Cross posted from chickflick1979.blogspot.com, my thoughts on "Hair:"

( Read more... )

So I spent the last 2 days at more Brandi shows here in the Boston area. Read about them here:

These two entries are cross posted from http://chickflick1979.blogspot.com

( Northampton )

( Boston )

Don't mind me, I'm just pimping my own book blog on here. I started this blog a few months ago as an application for a scholarship, and then never updated it. But this semester, I was assigned to keep a reading journal of YA books for my YA lit class. It's not due until the end of the semester, but I figured I could do it on my blog, and I started adding stuff to it already. So check out my new blog post!

http://lostbooks.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/%E2%80%9Crage-a-love-story%E2%80%9D/

So, this story is too long to put on facebook, but here's the update on my trip and so forth:

I finally made it to LA, though I probably should have stayed in Big Sur and hung out at the beach longer. I got to see lots of people in LA, though I never did get to do all that relaxing and swimming I was going to do.

Mom and I headed for Vegas, and I couldn't remember the last time the two of us had taken a road trip together. College, maybe? Anyway, we sang country songs in the car and stopped at a roadside diner that Mom loves (though, I'm still not convinced that wasn't what led to the next bit of tsuris).

We stayed at the Excalibur, which is kind of crappy, but turned out to be an OK home away from home, aside from the food. We ate dinner at the buffet, gambled a little, wandered around, and were having a nice time until I ate a snack at McDonald's, woke up at 2 am, and proceeded to puke my guts out for the next two days. Mom had to reserve the hotel for another night, constantly refresh the ice bucket, change her plane ticket, and sweet talk her way into a refund for our Bette tickets (which was half the reason I wanted to go to Vegas in the first place). She even called the paramedics, but we wouldn't let them take me to the hospital so they left. I have to say, when the police came to take the report, I scoffed when he said "the firemen are on their way - you'll love them, all the girls love firemen." Because, what a lame thing to say. However, they were really hot firemen. They lived up to their stereotype.

Anyway, I continued to puke my guts out and eat ice chips while Mom lost a bunch of money on the slots. ("Dad loves the slots!" If you can name that buried reference, I'll give you a cookie. Especially since I won't be eating cookies for another two weeks.) We finally did see Bette the next night, even though we had to pay full price for the tickets and I was still feeling queasy. Bette was fabulous, as she should be. I do love her comedy bits, though she is right when she makes fun of the audience for laughing at the same jokes she's been telling for 30 years. They even upgraded our seats when half the orchestra was empty and they were trying to fill seats. We also took the driving tour of the Las Vegas Strip on the way to see Bette. Let me tell you, the air conditioned car is the best way to see Vegas. If you get stuck at the stoplight in front of the Bellagio, roll down the windows and watch the fountains!

When I had finally graduated from ice chips to Gatorade, string cheese and pita chips (all from Whole Foods - I refused to eat anything else from any Vegas hotel, and insisted that we go find the Whole Foods, much to Mom's annoyance), we decided that Mom would leave the next morning while I set off for Chicago.

Today I went to Zion National Park, and then drove to Salt Lake City. I ate too many sliced apples, and didn't do too well in the afternoon. Now I'm trying to go to bed and I miss having my mom to take care of me! I have no idea what the next few days will bring, as I have to drive all the way through Wyoming and South Dakota.

OK. So I had all these posts planned out, and in the great tradition of Sarah Vowell. Bill Bryson, and about every travel writer ever, I was going to have "themes" and thesis statements for each of my daily travel posts. (Montana = geography, Minneapolis = The Mary Tyler Moore Show, North Dakota = music, and so on.) I'm still working on some of these, but they'll end up being written way after my trip, at this rate. (They're all written down in my little notebook.)

In the interest of exhaustion and general laziness, though, I just want to get out my adventures, so without flowery prose, and in barely correct prose, here goes.

( Road trip beginnings )

( Politics and geysers with my Yellowstone tour guide )

( More on Yellowstone )

Fun facts/diversions/silliness:

- On the radio in Minnesota, just outside Minneapolis: Christian Rock, Christian Country, church services, Mormon church services (it was Sunday), and the usual Clearchannel top 40 and "alternative" stations.

- On the radio in Idaho: Christian Rock, Christian Country, Christian Rock again, Country, Country, New Country, Old Country, NPR, and one top 40 station. I would have liked any of the country stations if they hadn't been consistently playing Toby Keith, Tim McGraw and Reba McEntire.

- My conversation with the park ranger who took my ticket this morning:
Her: Is Winnie the Pooh having a good time? (Referring to the stuffed Pooh who sits perched on a pillow in my back seat.)
Me: Yes, he is. He came to visit his friends.
Her (amazingly, still playing along): Did he see any of them?
Me: Yes, he did. He said hello.
Her (... and, now she's done): Well, ok. You have fun now.

OK. Now I have to go close my eyes because they feel like someone is repeatedly stabbing them with needles.

Pictures from Yellowstone Day 2:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24556&id=1057033703&l=f9f8237981

Note: I deleted the other entry, because I'm about to post a bunch of other ones that are better. I'm a few days behind, so here is today's, but I have the other two days hand written waiting to be typed.

Today I set off on my big Yellowstone adventure, driving through half the state of Montana before reaching the depot of West Yellowstone. Before I left, I had grand plans of taking the scenic route to Yellowstone, over the mountains and through the valley where wildlife is said to abound. But weather and geography got in the way of my plans, as they are wont to do. My pictures of the area of the country known as Big Sky Country just look like Arizona in the rain, and I didn’t get to venture off the interstate, for fear of being struck by lightning or ending up arriving at my hotel after midnight. All of these thwarted attempts at experiencing the big wide wilderness got me thinking about geography, location, weather, and the relative importance of all of those things.

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Please see my pictures here on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24418&id=1057033703&l=ebd23687cf

OK, so that title is lifted from Adam Vary's astute "So You Think You Can Dance" recap in Entertainment Weekly. But they always say it better than I could, so I thought I would start with that.

I wasn't going to post about the show here, because I didn't think I had enough to say, and I didn't think anybody read this anymore. But that was before the dumbassery ensued, and Facebook has it's limitations.

( Read more... )

That's all. Can't wait for next week! What did y'all think?

I'm watching Kelly Clarkson on Ellen in order to get Grey's out of my head. That was seriously creepy. I'm a little traumatized.

( Spoilers )

I can't even say anything else, because the whole thing was so nonsensical that I can't deal with it.

I felt all day today like I was about to jump out of my skin, so I decided to go to dance class. I really wanted to try out this lyrical jazz class, but only 2 of us showed up, and they won't teach the class if less than 5 people are there.

So, I got back in the car and went to the other dance studio, all the way across town, and ended up in a Basic Ballet class. I could have taken a normal jazz class, but I didn't feel like being lively and dancing to Fergie or whatever. I wanted something a little more froofy (as in, for once I kind of wanted the teacher who was going to say "be your own windkeeper" or whatever), so I settled on ballet, but the only class at that time was baby ballet.

( Boring dance jargon ensues )

But, the teacher did say I had "nice feet," which totally reminded me of Center Stage.

Yes, that's right. I'm dancing around my kitchen at 1 AM, singing the soundtrack to "A Chorus Line."

Why, you ask? Because I saw the fabulous movie "Every Little Step." (And no, there is no other word to describe it other than 'fabulous.') It's a behind-the-scenes, reality TV style documentary about the casting of the recent revival of "A Chorus Line." The filmmakers have also thrown in some archival footage of Michael Bennett's original process of writing the show, which consisted of taping a bunch of dancers telling their stories.

For anyone who loves theater, dancing, Broadway, all of those things... it's a must see. The film takes you through the entire casting process, with some familiar Broadway faces along the way (i.e. Tyce Diorio auditions for Mike!). Just as the characters in the show, you see their ups and downs, their falls as well as perfect grand jetes, and their backstories (mostly). It's totally fascinating to see how the original producers of the show mounted this new production, with some help from the original cast as well.

By the end of the film, I was sobbing as the soundtrack played "What I Did For Love" and we watched all of the new cast members receive the news that they were cast. And as any good musical or dance movie should, it made me go home and dance around my kitchen.

The only disappointment was that there wasn't more interviews and footage from the original cast - Kelly Bishop and Priscilla Lopez are nowhere to be found, and aren't even mentioned, for example. But, as the guy sitting next to me (my new gay boyfriend) said, that's a whole other movie.

"Across the Universe" is an actual musical, like where the characters sing the songs in order to further the plot. Somehow I thought it was one of those movies that just happens to have Beatles songs in the soundtrack, like "I Am Sam." Very interesting concept, but so far the use of the songs has not been terribly creative. (I.e., "Let it Be" as narrative for a funeral. I don't think the "Across the Universe" people were the first ones to come up with that.)

Holy crap, there's dancing in this movie too.

Thanks to some kind of promotion that Amazon was running, I got a 6 month subscription to Rolling Stone for $1. I had no idea I was interested in reading Rolling Stone until it appeared in my mailbox every week, and then I remembered how sharp their observations on pop culture are. (When I was writing my thesis, I used to use their articles on television all the time.)

Anyway, here are 2 things I learned this week:

1. I know you all read my post about how much I love Kelly Clarkson, here's one more reason:
RS: What do you sing around the house?
KC: My backup singer and I are usually doing Patty Griffin songs. She's my favorite artist.

2. The guy who conceived of "Spring Awakening" is making Green Day's "American Idiot" into a musical about disillusioned teens living in post 9/11 America. It opens September 4th in Berkeley. I hope it makes it to Broadway, or at least on tour, so I can see it. This sounds awesome - that's a great album, with lots of anthemic declarations, and we need a new rock musical on Broadway. (The current revival of "Hair" just isn't doing it's job of replacing "Rent" and "Spring Awakening.")

I want to write something, because I'm kinda bored, but my brain is mush. I spent the entire day watching movies on basic cable.

"Saved!", then "Saving Face", then "The Holiday", and I think "DEBS" is on in about two minutes. I was and still am equipped with Trader Joe's orange chicken, pancake mix, and Ben and Jerry's.

Oh, gotta go change the channel - I left the remote on the couch and I'm in my bed. Yes, I'm in my bed at 7 PM on a Sunday. I'm awesome.

"Syllabus of us. Off 'Martyrs, Vagabonds and Quilts."

"There is no solace in luxury, only deep despair."
"How do you know all these Indigo Girls songs?"


Hahahahaha. I knew there was a reason I loved 30 Rock.

Since I last posted, I've seen two more Broadway shows (and driven back to Chicago, but more on that later). My friends and I have season tickets to a theater here in Chicago, and one of our plays is this Thursday. I'm not sure I can take it!

( Saturday - Guys and Dolls. )

( Sunday and West Side Story. )

On the way back to Chicago, I did an experiment to see how much of my Broadway soundtrack collection I could get through if I listened to nothing but cast albums for 15 hours. I barely got through half of them, which is scary. The playlist:

In the Heights (I cheated a little with this one - I started it last night, listened to about 8 songs, and then started it again this morning.)
Rent (twice)
Wicked (I skipped the songs I don't like)
Hairspray
Jersey Boys
Grease
Dirty Dancing
Chicago
Spring Awakening
Fiddler on the Roof

Wait. That can't be it, can it? Maybe I listened to Rent a few more time than I think I did!

Sigh.  I saw another Brandi Carlile show last night.  That was my third and last one this week, and I have to admit that after seeing a musical the other day and changing the pace a little, I wasn't really in the mood to go at all.  It was cold and dreary yesterday, and I'd been in the house all day writing blog entries and just generally being lazy.  It took a lot to get me out, at which point I thought, "Maybe I'm done with Brandi for now."

But then, she opened her mouth and sang, and everything was forgotten.  I wasn't tired anymore, I forgot all about the fact that I had traded my ticket in for what was supposedly a better seat, but turned out sucky because the guy in front of me was 6 feet tall and had a big, bald head.  I forgot about all the embarassing things I've said to her this week, and just sat back and listened.  She managed to suck me back in, and I was bouncing off the walls steadily until 5 am last night.

I've seen Brandi play 3 times this week, and every time, the set list was a little different.  She always plays certain songs from her repertiore, but there are a bunch of new ones that switch out, and at the last two shows, she's played a song she'd never played before.  She's also really good at tailoring her setlist to how things are going to sound in the particular venue. 

After the show, I hung out for a while with about 7 forum members whom I had met at the other 2 shows this week, plus a few new ones.  It was great to hang out with people who were willing to sit around and talk about Brandi for 3 hours.  Also, though, I know I give a hard time to the people who spend much of their lives traveling to see shows - I always wonder where they get the time and money.  But after last night, I'm beginning to realize that after a while, it becomes not about the actual show as much as it is about the people you get to meet and hang out with.  The de-briefing where we talked about the brilliance of Brandi's whole band, gossipped about people on the forums, people told stories about other shows they'd been to, and I felt like I made some new friends in NY - that was the best part.  I can see how once everyone meets each other, they end up with a free place to stay pretty much anywhere they want to go, and they just visit each other and go to shows together.  Now I feel like if I end up back in NY, I have a few people I would happily call to say hi.

As much fun as I’d been having this past week stalking Brandi Carlile, driving around the New York suburbs, taking my grandparents to Costco, and collecting bagels and apple pies from my old stomping grounds, I felt as though something was remiss on this trip. It was something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on until I got on a train to Manhattan, got off in midtown, and hit Broadway. Though seeing my favorite rock star do her thing in my hometown was certainly a trip, I was starting to feel like a traitor to Broadway. After all, in my world, usually the entire reason to come to New York is to support theater and feed my showtunes habit. I was already starting to feel the pangs of guilt and longing on Tuesday, the day that my friends in Chicago and I were supposed to go see the national tour of Rent, but I found myself on the outskirts of Manhattan, watching the farthest thing from a Broadway musical imaginable. Yesterday, I felt like I had finally returned to reality when I ended up wandering around Times Square, listening to the strains of showtunes pouring out of storefronts, and deciding which musical to check out that night. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to choose from, since Broadway has taken a huge downturn in these times of economic crisis. I forged on anyway, and ended up with a balcony seat to Billy Elliot. I was wary of this production at first, since I’m not usually a huge fan of non-musical movies being made into Broadway musicals, but the reviews for this from friends and critics alike have been positive, and I love musicals with lots of dancing, so I decided to check it out. Sitting in a Broadway theater, hovering over an orchestra pit, listening to the two old biddies sitting next to me kvetch, and watching a 12 year old ballet prodigy on stage was definitely a welcome change of pace from the rest of the week.

( Read more... )

I just returned safely back to Queens after another awesome Brandi Carlile show. As usual, I really don't know what to say about it, because when I talk about Brandi, I turn into Barney Stinson and insert an "awesome" into every sentence.

( As close to a legitimate concert review as I can do... )

( Getting autographs and other fangirl fun... )

No, that's not the title of the new Celine Dion song. It's a line from tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy. I know that judging from that one line, one would be tempted to write this week’s Grey’s Anatomy off as just another of their ill-conceived feats of soap operatic melodrama. However, despite the fact that Izzie has a fatal disease of the “woe is me” variety, which makes her hallucinate sex with her long-dead fiancé; and despite the fact that George never has any lines; and despite the fact that Callie’s new love interest is neither loving nor interesting… this episode was actually quite moving. Just in time for the end of sweeps, Grey’s was almost back to true form tonight, and this episode served as the payoff for many, many storylines that seemed to be going nowhere this season. The dialogue was (mostly) sharp (we’ll get back to that line in the title later), everybody acted in character, and I actually cared about what happened to the gang again.

( Grey's Anatomy, spoilers included )

In other medical show news, tonight’s episode of ER was completely useless. Why waste that hour when you only have 3 left? This show baffles me. I also still don’t understand how Ray is walking, since, to the best of my recollection, the last time we saw him, he had no legs.

And yes, I am capable of watching and writing about TV on days other than Thursday. Stay tuned.