SWEET HOOOOLY JESUS

The show was great. Sure, Ted Neely doesn’t have quite the same voice that he had in 1973 but, honestly, what do you expect. Actually, his lack of the ability to hit an incredibly ridiculously high note every three seconds diminished some of the inherent whininess of his character so I think it was almost a plus. He really saved all the super high crazy singing for “Watch Me Die,” midway through the second act and he thoroughly rocked that song.

Corey Glover, however, was virtually flawless. The “Heaven On Their Minds” opening was simply amazing but I thought he should have really brought the house down with “Superstar” and it wasn’t quite as good as some of his other numbers. Like Monica said, “even though he has second billing those words are still pretty big.” To me he was the star of the show. The program notes about him gave me a chuckle and, since I took the playbill out of my bag I might not get the quote exactly right but it was something like, “Living Colour proved not only that Blacks can kick out the jams but that they can be embraced by a diverse audience.” We had a good chuckle over that one. Was there ever any doubt that Black folk can jam? Sure, hard rock may not be their typically chosen vehicle from which to jam but jamability should never be called into question.

I wasn’t as impressed with some of the other characters. Mary Magdalene did that American Idol growl for emphasis thing a few times and Simon The Zealot wasn’t quite zealous enough for my taste. There was a properly froggy voiced Caiaphas (although I could tell he was more comfortable singing a little higher) even though they changed my favorite line of his from “One thing I’ll say for him, Jesus is cool,” to something nowhere near as hilarious that I can’t remember. King Herod was great though. It’s a relatively serious play so having an awesome Herod to inject some comic relief is important (not that he was the only comic relief of the night). The song was arranged to be more conga than ragtime, which worked, and Herod was attired in a kimono type bathrobe and orange crocs. Normally I hate anything Croc related but Mario Batali and King Herod are total exceptions.

The other entertainment of the night was a woman sitting two rows behind us. I’m not entirely sure what her issue was. At first I thought she was on a field trip with people from her group home. Then I looked and didn’t really see anyone with her. Then I thought she was just slightly special. I’m still not sure if that was the case or if she was just plain old crazy or if she was a normal person who thought the theater was like a movie where it is annoying but somewhat acceptable to yell at the screen. Let me give you a little taste of her medicine.

As the curtain went up and the overture was playing the players made their way onto the stage. She welcomed them, “Hello,” as they continued to dance she was relatively quiet and then Jesus came on stage, “Hallelujah!” There were nudges all around between Tony, Monica, and I. I caught my first glimpse of her when she announced, “Dad I have to go to the bathroom.” Imagine my surprise when she turned out to be a very grown woman, wearing headphones and carrying a Discman (who brings their Discman to an opera?) who seemed to be alone. Maybe she was talking to Jesus, I guess they call him Father and maybe she is on more casual terms with the guy.

The kicker came halfway through the aforementioned “Watch Me Die,” there is a lull in the song, after he is all crazy and screaming at God and before he accepts his fate. During that lull comes, “Sweet hooooly Jesus!” We could take it no more. The laughter came. We tried our best to stifle it but it took us quite a while. One would stop but still be shaking and that would cause the others to laugh harder so the one who had stopped came back to the fold. We finally got it together though. She was pretty quiet until the end of the show. After being crucified and FINALLY dying (it really took him longer than necessary to get out those four lines about they know not what they do and where is my mother and why have you forsaken me and into your hands I commend my spirit than necessary) Jesus rose off the cross and into the rafters to the loving words, “Come back!” to which Tony said, “it will be about three days.”

1. Dear I thought I'd drop a line/ The weather's cool/ The folks are fine/ I'm in bed each night by nine

2. Sitting down by my window/ Looking at the rain/ Sitting down my window/ All around I felt it/ All I could see was the rain

3. I’m a poor boy born in a rut/ Some say my manners aren’t the best/ Some of my friends have been in a whole lot of trouble/ Some say I’m no better than the rest

4. They say some days you're gonna win/ They say some days you're gonna lose/ I tell you I got news for you/ Your losin' all the time you never win

5. A wannabe gangsta/ Thinking he’s a wise guy/ Rob another bank/ He’s a sock em in the eye guy

TOMORROW I'L BE SINGING

Tomorrow is the night. Monica, Tony, and I will be heading downtown to experience the wonder that is Jesus Christ Superstar. We are going on opening night. I always wonder about attending the opening of a show. Part of me feels that they are going to go out there and give it their all but another side wonders if they may not yet feel quite at home and, therefore, suck a little. No matter, even if the show were to suck it couldn’t help but be awesome. It will be hard to contain myself and not belt out songs. I think it might be a little inappropriate in a theater. This isn't movies in the park.

Let me tell you a little about why I love this show.

1. The music

Tony once told me that while in Texas he asked his friend Matt what Jesus Christ Superstar was. Mat replied, “it’s Jesus but funky.” He couldn’t be more right. This music is FUNKY. You just want to get up and dance and I am so curious to see the dancing that is going to happen tomorrow night.

2. The history

When I was young I didn’t go to church, synagogue, temple, ashram, or any other edifice of religiosity. I was somewhat curious about religion because I was a curious child and a while lot of people seemed to put a lot of stock in it. All the questions I had were answered by my parents to the best of their ability and I considered myself rather well informed.

One day, while looking through my parent’s records I came upon a double album containing the London cast recording of Jesus Christ Superstar. I figured the title was pretty interesting so I put it on. Need I remind you that it was FUNKY? I think not. So I sat there and listened to the music with the liner notes in hand reading along and learning the story. I think that experience was my first real exposure to the story of the final days of Jesus. Because of this musical being my teacher I was very confused when I heard that Judas was considered to be the worst of all worst people. His character in the play is very sympathetic and he totally has the best songs. Jesus is a little whiny. These facts may be why the musical was controversial.

Later in life I read the Bible and was pleasantly surprised to find bits and pieces of the words from JC Superstar dispersed throughout. I felt pretty good about the fact that the play was nice and true to the text…ish

3. The clothes

Now, since my only seeing of this show has been through the 1973 Norman Jewison film that is my only concept of the clothes. However, anytime Roman guards look like village people, King Herod appears to be a coked out movie producer, and Jesus and pals are total hippies I can’t help but love it.

4. The music

Yeah I know I covered this already but really, this stuff is FUNKY

I can’t wait.

1. Dear I thought I'd drop a line/ The weather's cool/ The folks are fine/ I'm in bed each night by nine

2. Sitting down by my window/ Looking at the rain/ Sitting down my window/ All around I felt it/ All I could see was the rain

3. Cato play with my head/ I won’t know the difference/ if we’re living in the novelist/ or statistician/ Oh oh oh. Cato As A Pun, of Montreal. Identified by Monica

4. See the storm set in your eyes/ See the torn twist in your side/ I wait for you. With or Without You, U2. Identified by, Danielle

5. I’m a poor boy born in a rut/ Some say my manners aren’t the best/ Some of my friends have been in a whole lot of trouble/ Some say I’m no better than the rest

THEY DID NOT DISSAPOINT: AND OTHER NEWS

I so called it. The US “ladies” have a world team that will be made up of the 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th place finishers at nationals. Poor 6^th place Katrina Hacker got passed up for last year’s champ Kimmie Meisner but I can’t blame anyone for doing so. She certainly isn’t ready for Worlds. The Pairs event also saw its winner being bypassed for Worlds because of age issues. At least the US ladies Jr. World team will kick butt.

The Men’s event was, as predicted, awesome. The two top finishers actually tied (unheard of with the new scoring system) but as Evan won the long program (by 1.35 points) he won the gold. It wasn’t the result I wanted and made me wish Johnny tacked one single jump onto the end of something or held a spin for one more revolution but so it goes. He was happy with the results so I am as well. Plus, he is so freaking fab in the most hilariously awesome way. I wish I had a picture of him strutting down the NYC streets in a blue bomber jacket with a popped fur collar, skinny jeans, fitted white ankle boots with pom-poms, and aviator glasses while toting shopping bag upon shopping bag that they showed in the NBC profile video. It was too perfect. This will have to do. Oh, and the pictures on his website that Nigel Barker of ANTM fame took of him….uh…yeah.

This weekend I also found a new show, Torchwood. Sure it’s been on for a season already but I had seen one episode with the rents and loved it so when I saw the season 2 opener was on I just had to watch. Imagine my happiness when James Marsters (aka Spike from Buffy) was on. I also learned that there was a very entertaining remake of Bye Bye Birdie starring Jason Alexander, Vanessa Williams, and George Wendt. Awesome and Awesome.

In other awesome news Avenue Q is coming to town as well as JC Superstar with Ted Neely (of the movie) as Jesus and Corey Glover (of Living Color) as Judas. In case anyone was planning to get tickets who is not me or Monica you shouldn’t because we still need to get ours. You can get them next week.

Now for the song reveal.

1. When the Witch Doctor Life/ throws his silent bones/ some are crowned kings/ while others lose their thrones. Witch Doctor, by Captain Beefheart

2. It was a clear black night/ a clear white moon/ Warren G was on the streets trying to consume. Regulators, Warren G and Nate Dogg (come on people)

4. Goodnight/ Goodnight/ Sweet baby/ The world has more for you/ Than it seems. Lullaby, Ben Folds

MANIC MONDAY- HEAT

To see other interpretations of the theme check out Mo.

When I saw the Manic Monday word was Heat all sorts of things came to mind. The song, “The Heat is On,” by Glenn Frey was one that just wouldn’t leave me alone. Many years ago, in one of the many ice shows I was in, a group that I was not a part of skated to that song. Although I wasn’t part of that performance, I think my group was on shortly after them because the song was deeply embedded into my head. Ice shows gave such wonderful memories. Oh, ice shows.

However, that is my no means my favorite “heat” memory. That has to come from the wonderful musical Guys and Dolls. Scene is in the corner barber shop. Nicely Nicely and Benny Southstreet are waiting for their boss, Nathan Detroit, to come in and tell them where the floating crap game will be held. However, instead of Detroit showing up, Lt. Brannigan appears instead with a message for Nathan.

Brannigan- Tell Nathan Detroit that Brannigan says he is not going to find a spot for his crap game because Brannigan has turned on the heat and Brannigan is breathing down everybody's neck.
Brannigan exits through the revolving door, Nathan Detroit comes through it
Nicely Nicely- Nathan, you are lucky. You just missed Brannigan.
Detroit- I am lucky. I missed Brannigan.
Nicely Nicely -He left a message. He said...
Detroit- I am not going to find a place for my crap game because everybody knows Brannigan has turned on the heat and is breathing down everybody's neck.
Nicely Nicely- That is what he said.

I know this may not seem all that hilarious but it was a really funny scene. One of the things I love about Guys and Dolls is that they rarely use contractions. This piece isn’t the best example of that, but the rhythm that contractionless speaking gives to the characters creates a mood that I have never got from any other film. The extreme formality of the language coming out of the mouths of crazy hooligans is hysterical.

I think this scene was one of the first times I was acutely aware of the term heat being used in this manner. I like the word because it has so many connotations. One thing I realized while thinking of this post is that not many of the connotations are positive ones. Initially I thought it was because, while people like to be warm, most don’t like to be hot. However, warm doesn’t have many positive alternate connotations either. Huh, that’s strange.

It’s time for guess that song.
1. Once Again/ I’m in trouble with my only friend/ she is papering the window panes/ She is putting on a smile. Life In A Glass House, Radiohead. Identified by The Doc

2. I’m a street walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm/ I’m a runaway son of the nuclear a-bomb. Search and Destroy, The Stooges. Title by Kiyotoe, Band by Johnny Yen.

3. Well my name is Young MC and I’m cold rockin the house/ I came up into the place and now I’m turning it out

4. So/ So I wish you could tell/ Heaven from hell/ Blue skies from pain. Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd. Identified by Jeff Roberts

5. Since age one/ Kita knew he had the answer/ And it was/ That someday he’s be a dancer. Show Me How To Do Like You, Stevie Wonder. Identified by Mom.

NO TITLE IS SUFFICIENT

This wasn’t a particularly good morning. I had a stuffy nose, lethargic movements, and had to walk to the train in the kind of rain that doesn’t quite deserve an umbrella, until massive droplets fall in your sleeve as you reach up to adjust your headphones. Other than that, it was an inconsequential morning.

On the train, I got the nice seat in back by myself and set upon reading the “paper” to pass my commute. The headlines seemed drab. As much as I love to talk racism, I haven’t been inspired by the “nappy-headed ho’s” comment. I guess I prefer more hilarious racism. That comment was just stupid and mean. I can’t even laugh about it. I like my racism creative, like Michael Richards talking about people hanging from trees with forks in their asses, or completely off base and wrong, like Barack Obama not being “really black”. Mean racism like this just makes me mad. At least the guy is halfway fired at this point.

So, as I am absentmindedly flipping through the pages skimming over most articles, I turned the page and saw something that truly threw me for a loop. We have lost one of our literary giants. Kurt Vonnegut died last night. There isn’t much I can say about Vonnegut that hasn’t either already been said or could be said better by someone else. All I really can say is that I have genuinely enjoyed everything I read by him, even Timequake which was not one of his best works. Given that, it was still better than a lot of the crap out there. His writing touched all different emotions in his readers, from comedy to tragedy and everything in-between. He was truly one of the greats. And that’s all I have to say about that.



Thanks for everything, Kurt.

When You Sleep, My Bloody Valentine- I find myself strangely drawn to this band’s music. It isn’t typically something that I would find myself liking because a lot of it borders on noise. However, it is really soothing and nice noise.

Something’s Coming, West Side Story- I love all things musical. West Side Story is one where I can listen to most of the songs out of context. Even some of my favorites typically need to be in context. This is just great fun to listen to.

Big Eyed Beans From Venus, Captain Beefheart- All I can say to this is Venus on the Half-Shell and some people will understand. Others won’t.

MIDDLE EASTERN EGGPLANT AND GARBANZOS

It's Foodie Friday time again people.

This is a dish that you could make a lot spicier with the addition of some chilies and or chili paste and would be quite delicious! However, this is how I made it.

-1 large eggplant cubed
-1 can garbanzo beans
-2 ripe tomatoes diced
-½ red onion
-2 cloves garlic pressed
-1 tbsp olive oil
-1tsp cumin
-½ tsp curry powder
-1/8tsp thyme
-1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
-1 bay leaf
-¼ cup vegetable stock
-1 small can tomato paste
-Salt and pepper to taste

-Heat olive oil over medium heat and sauté red onion for about 4 minutes
-Reduce heat to medium low; add garlic sauté about a minute
-Add rest of ingredients, mix well, reduce heat to low and let simmer for about 15 minutes or until eggplant is nice and mushy
-Serve over rice, couscous, other grain or eat alone. A nice dollop of yogurt with some cucumber grated in it never hurts either.

Enjoy

On a potentially happy note, Tony mailed off the computer today and it should be arriving at the computer fix it man (Daddy) Tuesday. Mom and Dad I am going to email you just as soon as I post this so don’t be mad if you read it here first. I’m getting there.

On an even more exciting note I am thinking about getting a hair cut. I have been incredibly bored with my hair and have never really come to like the color that was put in last summer. I don’t want to get rid of a lot of length because I think I would look a fool with short hair. I just want some shape and something different. It will probably end up looking the same though. It always does. They always tell me they want to get rid of length so I don’t lose the curl at the top of my head, but it doesn’t matter. Unless I have no hair I will always lose the curl at the top of my head. It just does that. The question now is where to go, where to go. I have only got my hair cut once in Chicago (I don’t do this often people because i have serious fear of looking like an utter fool see 7th grade) and while it was a fine experience they only took off about three inches and I am guessing anyone could have done that. My hair was really long at the time and no one noticed the three inch difference, I even had to stand up to get my hair cut. It cost $80 although it did include a blow straight, which took a while. This is with no coloring and I desperately need a color change, even if it is just back to natural, seems like it would be pretty expensive. If I get it cut I’ll totally post before and after pictures. Wait, I won’t, the USB cord for my camera blew up. Never mind. I always think never mind is one word. Damn Nirvana.

Silent All These Years, Tori Amos- Oh man the angst. Little Earthquakes takes me back to high school and unrequited lame crushes in a bad way. I’m glad I’m past that phase in life.

The Sun Goes Down and The World Goes Dancing, Magnetic Fields- This song is something that you can’t help being happy to. This type of song makes me feel a little sad that I can’t dance. Maybe I should take some ballroom lessons. I bet Tony would love that.

Express Yourself, Charles Wright- This song has been co-opted so often by commercials that I sometimes have a hard time enjoying it. However, it is so good that I can sometimes ignore the images of people flouncing around in mediocre clothes. Speaking of jingle songs I was watching a financial commercial this morning and was wondering where I knew the song from- “Stop wasting my time, you know what I want, you know what I need, or maybe you don’t” Oh yes people, it was “Gimme That Money” from Spinal Tap. Is nothing sacred?

CAUTION, THIS POST MAY BLOW

The Manic Monday theme for this week is Blow. I’ll admit that I had a hard time thinking of a post for this one. Last week it was Yellow. That was easy. One thing popped into my mind and I was ready to go. Unfortunately, it was none too simple for this one. Blow conjures up so much in my mind that all the thoughts were just blowing around in my brain and I was unable to catch any of them. There was Johnny Depp in the movie Blow, there was the ever present Donovan blowing in the wind, there were all sorts of dirty things that just don’t belong on this, relatively modest blog. I was afraid that my post would blow.

I thought about blowing off the entire project. Then again I realized that I never challenged myself with my writings. Sometimes certain events or topics that have recently blown my mind end up in my ramblings but I never give myself writing exercises or anything like that. I have never taken a writing class so I have never really been told to write about something and try to come up with something good. Essays don’t count. I thought this was something challenging and exciting for me, it is.

While I don’t think this post will have readers blowing up my comments section, I feel a strong sense of accomplishment in actually finishing a semi-coherent post about the word blow. Thanks Mo for giving me the chance to experiment with my writing in a way that I never would have. It keeps me working hard. Not that I am trying to blow smoke up your ass or anything. But thanks.

CSL tagged me with an iPod Meme. How could I possibly resist this? I am going to try and review the 25 most played songs in the darn contraption. Since I listen to things on shuffle a lot, I wonder how this will pan out. Hum, not too interesting. It was basically two entire albums, "Lets Get Out of This Country" by Camera Obscura and "The Sunlandic Twins" by Of Montreal. There were a few Belle and Sebastian songs thrown in there. I have been listening to those albums quite a bit lately. I have to think of some other way to handle this Meme. I’ll go to my recently played and pick songs that weren’t on a full album that I listened to. I also included my favorite line from the song to make things more fun.

1. Tim I Wish You Were Born a Girl, Of Montreal, Cherry Peel- “I’m not saying you can’t be all these things for me but it’s just not the same cause you’re a man, and so am I”

2. 2HB, Venus in Furs, Velvet Goldmine Soundtrack- “Take two people romancing, smokey night club situation, your cigarette traces a ladder”

3. Omega Supreme, Danger Mouse and Jemini, 26inch EP- "Sometimes I get sperm in my eye cause I be on my own dick”

5. High and Dry, Radiohead, The Bends- “All your insides fall to pieces, you just sit there wishing you could still make love”

6. Heaven On Their Minds, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jesus Christ Superstar- “Please remember that I want us to live, but it’s sad to see our chances weakening with every hour”

7. My Wandering Days are Over, Belle and Sebastian, Tigermilk- “A spooky witch in a sexy dress has been bugging me”

8. No Rain- Blind Melon, I have no idea what album- “Ya know I'd like to keep my cheeks dry today. So stay with me and I'll have it made”

9. Enjoy The Silence, Depeche Mode, Violator- “Words are very unnecessary, they can only do harm”

10. Feel Good Inc, Gorillaz, Demon Days- “A melancholy town where we never smile.”

11. She Loves You No Less, My Bloody Valentine, Ecstasy and Wine- “She loves you no less but do you really care”

12. Dumb, Nirvana, In Utero- “We’ll float around, hang out on clouds. Then we’ll come down and have a hangover”

13. Oslo In The Summertime, Of Montreal, The Sunlandic Twins(this was on the list a few times...)- “I practice my Norwegian on poor befuddled waitresses who shake their heads completely at a loss”

14. Mother, Pink Floyd, The Wall- “Mommas gonna make all of your nightmares come true”

15. Pets, Porno for Pyros, I don’t know the album- “Maybe Martians could do better than we’ve done”

16. Wandering Star, Portishead, Dummy- “Please could you stay a while to share my grief, for it’s such a lovely day”

17. Thieves in the Temple, Prince, Graffiti Bridge- “I can hang when you’re around but I’ll surely die if you’re not there”

18. Breaking The Girl, Red Hot HCili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magic- “I don’t know what, when, or why. The twilight of love had arrived”

19. Game Over, Scarface, some album- “Lord please murder my enemies, burn em at a thousand degrees”

20. They’ll Need a Crane, They Might Be Giants, John Henry?- Love sees loves’ happiness but happiness can see that love is sad

21.Tear in Your Hand, Tori Amos, Little Earthquakes- “I don’t believe you’re leaving cause me and Charles Manson like the same ice cream”

22.What’s Up, 4 Non Blondes, Bigger Better Faster More- “And so I cry sometimes when I’m lying in bed just to get it all out what’s in my head”

23. Father Figure, George Michael, I don’t know what album- “But sometimes love can be mistaken for a crime”

24. Cradle Of Love, Billy Idol, Rebel Yell- “Shakes the devil when he misbehaves”

25. I Wish, Skee-lo, I don’t know what album- “And when I'm in my car I'm laid back.I got an 8-track and a spare tire in the backseat but that's flat”

A GOOD TIME WITH MOMMY

I had so much fun with Mommy that I just don’t know where to begin. I’ll just give a little rundown of the festivities. I also went a little link happy. I don't know why.

Wednesday- Mom sent email to say she was leaving within the hour at 9:45. Mom called to say she was leaving at 12:45. She arrived around 8ish and we ordered some food and relaxed. It was fun.

Thursday- Mom, Tony, and I went to see “Radio Golf”, August Wilson’s final play in his chronicle of African-American life in the 1900s. It was great although we discovered the matinee audience at the Goodman is 75yrs+old white people. They didn’t really seem to “get” the play. No one clapped between scenes in the entire first act. Mom and I wanted too but were kind of embarrassed. We shouldn’t have been. That was silly of us. Anthony Chisholm (Burr Redding on Oz) was in the show. That made Tony and I very excited because Oz rules. I realized I had already seen him act in “Gem Of The Ocean” (another August Wilson play) on Broadway. I felt more special. After the play we wanted to stand up but the old white people made us feel uncomfortable about it. We should have stood up. At least we held our hands high to clap. Mom, Tony, and I went to dinner at Hema’s Kitchen a fantastic Indian restaurant on Devon and Oakley. If you live in Chicago and like Indian food this is THE place to go. I have never had a poor dish there. We then dropped Tony home so he could pack for his trip to Houston and his friend’s wedding. Mom and I went to a fundraiser at Continuum Studio where Dave E. Wo works. He poured a mean chocolate martini (although he didn’t know what was in them). We met fun people including a guy who told us to watch out for the black ice on Lake Shore Drive while taking Tony to the airport in the morning. My mom thought he said “watch out for the black guys” which was funny. Went home and enjoyed DVRed programming.

Friday- Drove Tony to the airport at an ungodly hour. Came home and took a nap. Woke up and called Dave E. Wo so that we could pick him and his massage table up and have massages in the living room. That was awesome. Unfortunately he had an appointment so he couldn’t come out to dinner with us at Ethiopian Diamond. Another fantastic restaurant that any person would enjoy (unless they are opposed to eating with their hands from a communal plate). I highly recommend the Tej (honey wine) if you like really sweet wine that Winnie the Pooh would tear up. Went home and decided it was couch and movie time. We started with “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum”. I really enjoyed the film although it was obviously on crack. If you like crack filled musicals you should see it. We then watched “Harvey” and I continually poked Mom throughout the second half because she insisted that we should finish the movie and not save it for tomorrow.

Saturday- It was time to get to business. After lounging around for a while we set out to Target to stock my somewhat lacking house with needed goods. It was the greatest. I am glad Mom likes to take me places and buy me things that I need. We then went to Jewel to get more things I need. I have tons of food and household goods. It is the greatest. We then went to pick up Monica for Pan’s Labyrinth. We were a little later than expected so we opted out of the earlier shows to go home and order food from Heartland Café MMMMMM. Then we headed to the movie. Can I say how much I enjoyed that film? It was dark and fanciful all at the same time. There were so many ways to interpret things and different lenses to look at the film through. The cinematography was gorgeous and the music set the story off beautifully. I did have to look away briefly in a few parts but I knew to expect a little gore. I was thinking it would be more war-type gore than it was but I was cool with it. Then home to watch DVRed SNL (which could have been funnier) and to sleep.

Sunday- We took Monica home in the morning and then went home for lunch before going to the airport to pick up Tony. He was happy to see me. It was nice. We ordered Pizza Hut for dinner (I know, a strange departure from the fantastic food we had been eating) but Tony really wanted some bad pizza with cheesy bite crust and dipping sauce. Pizza Hut took FOREVER to come and I got $10 off my next order. Tony was super tired and I think ended up getting 3 pieces of the pizza he desperately wanted and has talked about for eons and was SOOO HUNGRY because he fell asleep. Mom and I watched “Ali” because I had never seen it and “The Five Heartbeats” cause who doesn’t love that movie and Mommy hadn't seen it. Then it was time to sleep.

Monday- Mom and I ate the rest of the pizza for breakfast because he was still sleeping. He kind of got up for a second and I asked if he wanted the last piece and he said no so I ate it. HA. Before putting Mom in the car we watched "Hustle and Flow" because we needed some grit to round out the wonderful visit that we had.

As you can see, I was totally busy and even though I considered blogging here and there I just wasn’t going to do it. Feels good to be back though.

Oscar Sees Through Red Eye, Boards of Canada- There are a lot of drums in this song. I don’t know if there are any words. I don’t listen to it often. It is really relaxing, maybe next time Dave comes by to massage people (or I go there) I’ll recommend that he invest in this song. Oh wait, there comes some muted voices. I have no idea what they are saying.

Is This Love, Bob Marley- Don’t you love how people say they really really like reggae music and then own one Bob Marley CD and it is Legends? Posers. Now I own two Bob Marley CDs and one is Legends, I also have a good deal of Lee Perry and some other assorted reggae. I enjoy it plenty but know I am not very knowledgeable about the genre. I would never be one of those people who says I am all about reggae. I am a poser in different ways.

I’m Looking Through You, The Beatles- The Beatles are a band I am not a poser about. I don’t own everything of theirs, for some reason I don’t have Let It Be and I know that is a problem in my Beatle cred. Regardless, I know a fair deal about their songs but am not one of those huge Beatle geeks that knows everything about them. I did write a 50pg paper on them in Jr. High. That was a bit silly. I think many of the pages were lyrics.

WICKED! GOOD TIME

Even though yesterday started out all types of crummy, by mid-day things had tuned around. After happening to be in the right place at the right time, I was invited to attend Wicked! with some of our students as there were some extra tickets. After falling madly in love with the book (that Monica totally owes me a copy of cause she promptly lost it but I still love her and don’t really care), I had wanted to see the show for some time. Additionally, as my loyal readers know how I feel about musicals, it is obvious that I wouldn’t turn down this type of production. Friend had told me that the music was somewhat shrieking and that had keep me from feeling too sad about not going. I think I have to thank the cast because I could easily see how the songs could get into that annoying part of the register but they seemed to keep things relatively in check. I will admit that I didn’t walk out with any songs in my head which should let everyone know something in the lyrical or tune writing department could have been improved. Just now I was trying to think of the tune for “No One Mourns The Wicked” and all I could come up with was the theme for Rocky.

The show was very pleasant and, if I hadn’t read the book I think I would have found it to be absolutely perfect. However, since I am such a fan of the book, I was a little put off. The book is dark, highly political, violent, and shocking. The play, on the other hand, strove to be child friendly. I guess that makes sense as it is more accessible to the general public. It still worked for a good story, it just wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. When we sat down I noticed a family with three children 4-9 sitting to my left and was a little afraid that the children would be traumatized for life. With the changes to the story, traumatization was certainly not an issue. I was slightly disappointed by that. Even though I feared for the psyche of the children, I really enjoy it when parents take their kids to things they shouldn’t and the kids are warped. I know that shouldn’t bring me happiness but I really like stupid parents to get a lesson in fact checking.

There was only about 20 minutes of dialogue in the 2.5-hour show, which tells you how much singing was involved. It was fine by me because all my years of watching musicals has given me a strong ability to understand lyrics. I know that many people don’t have that gift. Some of the people I was with missed some of the subtle plot exposition that was included in the songs. I was really glad I understand lyrics so well. It would have really diminished my appreciation of what was going on if I didn’t. One of the actors had been on Buffy The Vampire Slayer and it was nice to see him play a goat. I love Buffy. Knowing the goat was also capable of being a terrifying vamp also enhanced my enjoyment of the show.

The only drawback to the evening was that I didn’t get home until about 11:30 and since I had been up super early for the breakfast yesterday it was a little bit of a drag. I didn’t get the chance to sit and loaf as much as I usually do. I must say, when I actually got into bed, I was plumb tuckered out. I have no idea what that means but I like the way it rolls off my tongue.

Starting in about an hour and fifteen minutes I am going to have a very busy day. Should be interesting. I forgot my glasses at home and can’t see all that well, at all. Since I am nearsighted that means that I am going to be ok as far as work goes. My eyes are really watery though. I hope I’m not squinting too much. I don’t think I am. I noticed my glasses were missing on the train ride to work. I had been reading the paper and all was well until suddenly I touched my face for something and found no glasses. Not being able to see clearly makes me very very sleepy. In fact, I am wondering how I will make it thought the busy day. I think I might have to drink coffee. I am not the biggest coffee fan. There is no coffee in the break room. I guess by 9:47 all the real coffee drinkers have finished it all off. I wouldn’t know, as I am not one of them.

Hell Yes, Beck- I like Beck. I had a renewed interest in him this past year. I am not sure why but I guess there had been a large Beck void in my life. There is something so reassuringly ‘90s about his music. With the exception of Sea Change, that is quintessential early ‘00s.

Carey, Joni Mitchell- Blue is easily one on my favorite albums as a whole. It makes me really happy. Reminds me of good and carefree times. Then again, in those times I skipped certain songs that I have come to enjoy. I think I even programmed my CD player not to play a few of them. I must be getting old.

Traveling at the Speed of Thought (remix), Ultramagnetic MCs- HAHAHAHAHAHAHA is all I have to say about that.

THE THINGS A COMPUTER CAN DO

A long time ago I decided not to put a stat counter on my blog because I didn’t believe I was technically capable enough to do it. Then I realized that I would have to be a complete idiot with no hands or feet not to be able to do it so I did. I love my stat counter. I am slightly obsessed. I think that it could become a huge problem for me. I have always liked graphs, facts, figures, useless information, and randomness. The stat counter combines them all. I wish I had done it a long long time ago.

Yesterday I found a friends computer and was able to deduce what she was doing on it by looking at the length of time she spent on the page and my deductions were confirmed. I felt real special, like a secret agent. I also realize that most people who end up on my blog don’t stay all that long, which is ok by me because I am sure that my almost interesting musings aren’t at all interesting to many people. I can deal with that, it makes sense. What I don’t understand is why some people spend over an hour on my page. I admit that I am happy about their interest. I just don’t understand it. At all. I’m only almost interesting.

The country breakdown is also interesting. I knew I had visitors from all over but I didn’t know how much all over. I’m talking about places like Brazil, Malaysia, and Ireland. I knew I had visitors from the UK but not Ireland, and there were a few.

As any of you people with a stat counter know, the search results that bring people to your page are always incredibly interesting and often hilarious. Surprisingly, about 75% of the searches that brought people to me were about figure skating. Granted, when I talk about figure skating I really talk about figure skating but I only did it twice. I’m sure more will come after Nationals this month and Worlds in March but it obviously isn’t my main thing. My favorite search was “Ironman racist lyrics”. Last I knew, Ironman didn’t have racist lyrics but apparently the site that comes up after mine talks about a sir-mix-a-lot song called Ironman that apparently has some racially stereotypical lyrics. Who knew? I thought it was funny that my page came up before the one that obviously answered their query but whatever. “Natalie, I love you, I love you, I love you” was also a nice search. I guess there are a few songs by Natalie’s that have those lyrics in them as well as my many posts about things that I love. Actually, a lot of things got to my page because of song titles or lyrics, which makes sense since I include them on every post. I was flattered to know that if you google the first line from “Little Red Corvette” my blog is the first page you will come upon. I am second in line for “King Herod’s Song” and, as a lover of musicals, which is also a big deal.

For the past two weeks we have been instructed to wear orange and blue on Fridays in support of our Chicago Bears. Most people wear their Bears gear or don’t wear any orange and blue at all. I have no Bears gear but still wanted to show my support. Last week I wore my Orange “Super Dad” shirt with blue lettering. Today I am wearing my Mets shirt, which is particularly hilarious to me. One other person found it funny so far but it is only 10:30. I truly hope that my awesome levels of “spirit” help the Bears get to the Super Bowl. It would be nice. Someone else just told me in a mean voice that I was wearing the wrong team. I explained it was the best I could do and she looked at me crazy. What?

Songs To Aging Children, Joni Mitchell- When I first started to really listen to Joni Mitchell I was in high school and I had a morbid fascination with this song as I felt I was certainly an aging child. I was far too dramatic for my own good. I think it applies more to me now than it did then. Not that I am anything but an adult (although occasionally that could be debated) I just think I understand it better now.

Rise, Public Image Limited- Oh how this song reminds me of “The Rules of Attraction,” the movie not the book. Monica and I watched this movie A LOT for a while. I never thought I would be such a fan of a movie staring Dawson but this movie is fantastic! If you haven’t seen it you should stop reading this silly blog and haul tail to the video store. There are so many priceless scenes in this film that I can’t even begin to think about them. THE NAME IS DICK!

Astro Boy, The Dwarves- I don’t think this song has anything to do with the cartoon Astro Boy that my Mom loves so dearly. I think her face on Christmas when she opened Astro Boy was almost as adorable as my face when I opened Jabba The Hut after a good 15 years of wanting it.

I AM MARY POPPINS

Mary Poppins, she seems to be surrounding me these days. In the windows at Macy's that I walk past every day on my way to work. In the conversations I have with people that lately seem to turn to musicals more often than usual. I love Mary Poppins, she is a sweetheart. She is the kind of person that I inspire to be. she is sweet, intelligent, imaginative, kind, caring, and selfless. I am certainly not selfless but I do aspire to be...kind of...sometimes. The woman is, as you may recall, "Practically Perfect in Every Way". Apparently, according to a recent personality quiz I took, so am I.

Almost Perfect- INFP 26% Extraversion, 86% Intuition, 33% Thinking, 20% Judging

So, you want to make the world a better place? Too bad it's never gonna happen. Of all the types, you have to be one of the hardest to find fault in. You have a selfless and caring nature. You're a good listener and someone who wants to avoid conflict. You genuinely desire to do good. Of course, these all add up to an incredibly overpowered conscience which makes you feel guilty and responsible when anything goes wrong. Of course, it MUST be your fault EVERYTIME. Though you're constantly on a mission to find the truth, you have no use for hard facts and logic, which is a source of great confusion for those of us with brains. Despite this, in a losing argument, you're not above spouting off inaccurate fact after fact in an effort to protect your precious values. You're most probably a perfectionist, which in this case, is a bad thing. Any group work is destined to fail because of your incredibly high standards. Disregard what I said before. You're just easy to find fault in as everyone else! Luckily, you're generally very hard on yourself, meaning I don't need to waste my precious time insulting you. Instead, just find all your own faults and insult yourself. ***************** If you want to learn more about your personality type in a slightly less negative way, check out this. I love being an INFP. From the research I have done only about 1% of the world population falls under that category. I like to be different. It makes me fell more special. Like if someone knows me they will be likely to not know to many other people who are very similar to me. It took me a long time to fully embrace my INFP personality. I spent a lot of time being down right evil. I’m not entirely sure why I enjoyed being evil so much but I did. I still find evil things rather funny at times. I think I get it from my father. He is an incredibly sweet and loving person too. But his sense of humor certainly borders on evil. Maybe the evilness was more of a defense mechanism to hide my inherently do-gooder personality. In retrospect, it makes a lot of sense. See, it isn’t particularly cool to be all touchy feely and loving as a child. In my youth I also tried to reject my introverted personality and really wanted to have lots of friends and be liked by everyone. It took a lot of energy for me because it isn’t how I am. I always liked being alone with my books or my imagination as a young child. However, between the ages of about ten and sixteen I really didn’t want to be that kind of person. How many people those ages really want to be the quiet kid in the corner? To avoid that I made lots of acquaintances, I never had lots of friends. I hung out with “cool” or “tough” kids as often as possible and I developed a pretty hard exterior (at least as hard as a tiny short person that always gets described as “cute” could really be). I was pretty proud of that exterior and always valued it as a part of who I am. My inner personality seemed too weak to have in the forefront all the time. That, combined with my evil sense of humor has gotten me labeled as a pretty evil person for a long time. Monica once told me that I was utterly evil yet really sweet and that she didn’t understand why that was. I guess a few people have told me similar things. Rather recently I have grown sick of being such a conundrum I have embraced my true nature and let a lot of that evilness go. I’m not afraid of being seen as weak and easy to take advantage of anymore. Probably because I’ve learned that being a caring giving person doesn’t always mean you are a pushover. Don’t get me wrong; I’ll still laugh at you if you fall down. I’ll just check to see if you are okay first. 1. Tell em I’m driving and it’s all right turning on this wheel turning on headlights. 2. In the right light study becomes insight but the system that dissed us teaches us to read and write. 3. After all the jacks are in the boxes and the clowns have all gone to bed. 4. Your hand on his arm, the haystack charm around your neck. Needle in the hay, Eliott Smith. Identified by Monica 5. Oh well uh you might think I’m crazy to hang around with you or maybe you think I’m lucky to have something to do. You Might Think, The Cars. Identified by Monica

WHAT DO YOU WATCH?

When you talk to most people about their favorite genre of movie, few would include the Musical. I am one of those few. I love a Musical more than is acceptable in normal society. I do not claim to have seen every musical but I would say that I have seen more than many people. Some of my favorites include My Fair Lady, Fiddler On The Roof, Oliver!, Jesus Christ Superstar, and The Sound of Music. If I have left out any of those that I particularly love I am sorry to you my dear friends. Last night, while watching “The Muppet Show” (oh and I suppose all true Muppet movies are musicals of a sort and I love them all) they put together a fantastical recreation of the jousting scene from “Camelot. I must admit that is a musical I have not seen. My mom says its good though. Anyway, the premise was that they were not allowed to do the true jousting scene without paying royalties so instead they ripped off many other musicals in a wonderful amalgamation of musical tribute.

They introduce the Queen, who happens to be Pearl Bailey, and she bursts on to the scene with Hello Dolly. Next the jousters are introduced and bring in their horses with a wonderful rendition of Paul Revere from “Guys and Dolls”. The jousters (Floyd and Gonzo) then broke into Anything You Can do I Can Do Better. I don’t know what musical that is from but I know the song and I am curious. Does anyone know? Then Piggy jumped in with A Boy Like That from West Side Story (oh yeah that is one of my favorites too) and they closed it all out with Everything’s Coming up Roses and I also don’t know what that is from. So I guess what I am trying to say is I am not as well versed in musicals as I thought and I am upset about that.

I am, however, well versed in Muppets. I don’t know if anyone else loves those little guys as much as I do. I have a constant internal debate about “The Muppet Movie” vs. “The Great Muppet Caper” and which is the top Muppet film in my eyes. While “The Muppet Movie” is a definite classic and The Rainbow Connection is a song for the ages, something about a human man being madly in love with Miss. Piggy is an absolute gem. Also Bouregard has a fantastic part in “The Great Muppet Caper” and he is my favorite unsung Muppet. Of the main characters I have to give it up for Fozzie Bear. He is adorable and hilarious. People used to tell me that if I were a Muppet I would be Rolph but then they met Monica and she looks more like a Rolph than I. Now I don’t know what Muppet I would be. Sad.

This is probably one of the most pointless posts I have ever had. I really anted to talk about the wonders and glory of the Musical but I was totally sidetracked by fluffy creatures that dance really funny. Oh well. I still had fun writing it. I guess the point is to tell me what I should watch.

I may be absent the next few days. I am of work Thursday and Friday, which seems like it would be conducive to writing, but I have things to do. I have to finish a painting for Tony tomorrow and then Friday I am going to see Friend. Yeah for friend! Maybe I’ll get to it. Just don’t be mad at me if I don’t. If you care at all, which you probably don’t. Whatever.

Now, for the songs to guess. We need to add one new one to round it back out to five.

1. The boy done wrong again. Hang your head in shame and cry your life away. The Boy Done Wrong Again, Belle and Sebastian. Identified by Jaclyn

2. A flask I drink of sober tea while relay cameras monitor me.

3. You're gonna break another heart you're gonna tell another lie. There You Go, Johnny Cash. Identified by Stephanie

4. Standing like John Wayne she is full frame she is center stage.

5. Your Flesh Finds Me Out. Teases the crack in me. Smittens me with hope.