Vet The Vet

1. When I got home this evening, I started looking for the mail because I was expecting my Netflix discs. And they were nowhere to be found. See, there are times when our mailperson mixes my mail with the people downstairs. And when they do, these downstairs people don't give it until the next day (that in itself is annoying) I was so ready to get so pissed when I realized that today is Veteran's Day...and I realized that there is no mail. So now, I feel guilty for getting  mad at basically...nothing.


2. I am still trying to get used with the non-DST thing. It's just always so...dark! Tonight past 5 pm, as I was walking home, it just felt like ten in he evening already. It makes for great neon light viewing, but it's more conducive to melancholy walking. 


3. I am very excited to watch the Corbin Fisher art film "Down On The Farm," and I expect to see some very appealing barn animals.  

We need to learn to set our course by the stars,
not by the lights of every passing ship.

~ Omar Bradley

The Elf Who Stole Christmas

Maybe I shouldn't have seen ELF so early in the holiday season. It is, on paper,  a great musical. Adapted with music by Matthew Sklar and Bob Martin, and book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin, it's a gem of a musical. The music was fantastic, and of the right genre. I can't remember the last time I heard such a tuneful "traditional" musical, and you will be humming the songs as you leave the theater. (I hope it gets recorded - the cast recording would be sensational) However, I didn't really feel it, and I think it may have to do with the fact that I am nowhere near close to the Christmas spirit. Imagine if it were December, and the temperature would be cold, and you were to see this show, then it would really sparkle and shine. On this mid-November night, it just seemed too...forced.  


Plus, the cast seemed...serviceable, yet no one truly signed. This would have been a perfect star vehicle for someone. Nathan Lane, perhaps? Matthew Broderick even. I am even thinking Jonathan Groff. Heck, Gavin Creel would have been just as good. But playing Buddy the Elf, Sebastian Arcelus sang well, danced well, acted well... yet  I didn't really remember him after the show. There is such a thing as "star power," and Mr. Arcelus just didn't have it. It's hard to explain what "it" really is, but if you don't have "it," there's just nothing you can do about it. And its not like the ghost of Will Ferrell (who originated the role of the Elf in the film) haunted me, since I never saw the movie.


So it just didn't work for me. I hate to be Bah Humbug, but maybe with Christmas cheer this show would work better. 

Hysteria

There must be some sort of high-alert emergency going on. It must be related to that toner/UPS terrorist thing. Why do I think that? Because, while traveling today, I noticed that the subway stations are filled with military men. I don't know what they specifically are - army, I guess? They all seem to be wearing that desert storm military uniform, so I am just assuming. Is that the standard army uniform nowadays? So, anyway, I know that when they have military people everywhere in the city, it means that there is some kind of threat, although obviously, they will not announce it in public because it will just cause mass hysteria. 


Reading the message boards this morning re: "The Fashion Show," and people are wither gaga or nada on Iman. I loved her - her ice queen mentality is so entertaining and may be the main reason for me to keep on tuning back. Plus, since I have decided to not go back to Project Runway anymore, this will fill the fashion hole. 


I was sitting at The Shake Shack today, and this not-bad looking young man was going from table to table, saying he "need $118 to go back to California" and is asking for help. Does the specificity of his request make it more authentic, I wonder.

"When the student is ready, the master appears." 

- Buddhist Proverb

Colorless

Can this really be true? Am I really seeing a Tyler Perry movie? I pinched myself today as I sat down to watch FOR COLORED GIRLS. Up until that moment, I have been a Tyler Perry virgin. I have not seen any of his movies, even though he is arguably the most successful black filmmaker of all time. I think I would eat glass first before I watch any of the Medea movies, and I have been meaning to add any or both of his "Why Did I Get Married" series on my Netflix queue but just can't do it. So I was not really looking forward to seeing this movie. But then Manola Darghis of NYT gave it a rave  and she is one tough critic, so it made me pause and reconsider. 


I hated it. I hated it because it could have been a lot better, and the potential is there. However, there wasn't a cliche that Mr. Perry did not use in this movie. The filmmaking style is a series of cliches. Five second into a scene, you know how it will end. And the story is one predictable plot after another. The characters are one stereotype after another, and each one cardboard types - nary a person is evolved and three dimensional. And everything is at Volume 10. I can appreciate over-the-top but this is over over over the top. It became pretty exhausting ten minutes into the movie, and then it no longer spoke, it just screamed and screamed and my instinct was to tune it out. I don't want to say that the acting is all bad, just that every single actor was badly directed. Only one of the actors tried to offer some subtlety : Kimberly Elise, but again the story line is so out there that you can't even really notice it. Janet Jackson's limitations are highlighted, and even Whoopi Goldberg and Phylisia Rashad look like clowns acting in a circus. Seriously, Tyler Perry can make Meryl Streep look bad. I don't think I will ever want to see a movie by him again. 

Brendan Was Just Not Into Us

Movie stars can be real weird. Jojo and I went to see "Elling" last Saturday and Jojo particularly was very excited because he has been a fan of Brendan Fraser, one of the play's stars. He brought his Blu-Ray of "The Mummy Returns" for him to sign. So after the show, we were at the stage door. One by one the cast came out, and both Jennifer Coolidge and Denis O 'Hara couldn't be more gracious - they signed playbills and posed for autographs. Then Brendan came out, if a bit flustered. He dutily signed playbills, if a bit perfunctorily, and even made a comment on Jojo's Blu-Ray, pointing at his picture and asking "Who's that guy?" Then we asked him for a photograph, and he answers "I am supposed to just sign." We patiently wait for him to finish signing, then a young woman asks him again for a photograph, to which he answers: "Sorry, but I have a phone call to make," ad goes back in through the stage door. 


But I know these tricks. Most of the time, they just wait for the crowd to subside, and then they walk out. So Jojo and I cross the street, and then we see him walk out the door. Jojo runs to him and calls out his name, gets no response. Fail! I told Jojo that perhaps, he just does not want to pose for autographs. I really cannot understand why some stars would be so picky. It literally takes less than a minute of their time, yet they cannot even spare that. They're just not into us. 

Elling Tone

ELLING at The Ethel Barrymore feels like a French farce, and perhaps it is because it is an import from Norway via London - it is based on some Norwegian novels and a film. I have to admit, it took a while for it to get going. The first third of the first act felt interminably long, but when it did finally get going, it had charm. It's a pretty small play, and is somewhat dwarfed by a big Broadway venue, though the Barrymore is one of the more intimate houses out there. By the end of the play, I found myself smiling... a lot. It has an oddity that is almost endearing. But it itself is quirky in a head-scratching way. You kind of wonder at times where the play is going, but then realize it didn't need that far to go. 


It's a character-driven comedy of two men who befriend themselves in a mental institution, and then the story follows them as they are released and have to adjust to normal life in Oslo. Denis O'Hare, in the title role has the more "showy" role, and is remarkable in the role. But then you can always count on him giving a spirited performance. Brendan Fraser has the more buffoon type role and is a competent match to Mr. O'Hare. It's his Broadway debut, so you can sense some stiffness, but it is early in the run so he should be better. Jennifer Coolidge is wonderful as the lone female in the cast, playing several roles. Richard Easton and Jeremy Shamos round out a uniformally professional cast. 


ELLING probably would be more suited on an Off-Broadway stage. But as it stands right now, it has a odd charm, like pickled herring from Oslo. If you have a forgiving pallet, you may just love it. 

                                                
                                               (With Denis O Hare)

            
                                            (With Jennifer Coolidge)

Convert

 I was talking to Pipo last night and he was telling me that because of my influence, he started watching "Brothers And Sisters," and now he is hooked.  He said every week he just can't help himself from crying. I am glad, because it is a show I dearly love, although I did tell him that this season really has not been the best. He said he sees himself and drew in the characters of Kevin and Scottie. And Sally, Sally, Sally! He loves her, and I , of course, do. I told him that in each episode, about three quarters of the way through, she has a breakdown scene! I think it's in her contract!


Remember the other day when I thought of my friend who is the biggest Ricky fan? Well, I did write him, telling him I thought of him this week during the RM media blitz, and he answered back! Here's what he said:

I know - the coverage of Ricky, aka "KIKI" is fabulous!
I got his book and started reading it and it's pretty much what you'd expect so far. No pics, sad to say, but if you've seen him on TV then you know that he's aging well!
Hope you're doing fine, too. Getting ready to take out my holiday music soon and of course that means my For Femmes CDs and I'll think of you as I listen to them!

"Helped are those who create anything at all, for they shall relive the thrill of their own conception and realize a partnership in the creation of the Universe that keeps them responsible and cheerful."

- Alice Walker

Sperm

More vintage pictures. I have been scanning like crazy, and thought this warranted a post. This was taken, oh I don't even remember what year - it was probably mid 90s sometimes, and it was taken at Pipo's apartment. Look at those walls - now his walls are all packed with antiques.  Obviously, this was taken Christmastime, and most probably this was during Thanksgiving time. I remember we used to have  yearly reunions around that time.  I had this John Richmond sperm shirt and I kind of miss it , although I would probably think twice before I would wear it now. 

"We waste a lot of time running after people we could have caught by just standing still."  

- Mignon McLaughlin

Whenever I Call You Friend

"My Best Friend Girls" gets you hooked instantly.  Even though the premise of the story is familiar, (best friend gets estranged, one gets leukemia and asks the other to take care of her daughter) but it moved pretty quickly and the characters are pretty engaging, and their emotions real and relatable that you care about them. After the first third of the book, though, characters shift gears and there are some incredulous holes in the plot that I started to roll my eyes. The main character, Kamryn, gets to be so unlikeable that I almost stopped reading. However, Ms. Koomson throws in a lot of curves in the plot. Even though the soap opera-ish story is predictable enough, she throws in a lot of wrenches that you keep turning the page. A  lot of the plot twists come out of nowhere, and without merit sometimes, but she knows how to spring a gimmick, I must say. Plus, she keeps, for the most part, the sentimentality at check. The bittersweet ending (she gives you three or four of them) is more a fizzle than a sizzle. It's not bad reading when you are stuck in the suburbs, but I already gave away my copy as soon as I finished it, and am glad I only paid a dollar for the book.

(2-Dorothy Koomson - My Best Friend's Girl)

Crazy Rhythm

I want to go home. I am still here in the 'burbs...and I feel numb, like I have no control over anything. I can't even go out. I mean, of course I can, but I have to ask someone to drive me. It was raining the whole day and I felt trapped. Like, literally. I know a lot of this is projection.  I willed myself to literally stop watching Oprah because I feel like she is making my mind rot. I would even consider going to see "For Colored Girls," and I thought I would never ever see a Tyler Perry movie. I guess I am going crazy, like I am on a verge of a nervous breakdown, which, by the way is opening tonight. I wonder if the "frozen" version is different from the one I saw? So far, reviews have been all over the place. I have always said this is a piece that will polarize people. 

"Burdens are the foundations of ease and bitter things the forerunners of pleasure." 

- Rumi

The Gift That Is Susan

It seems destined, isn't it? The Susan Boyle Christmas Album. The persona, the voice, her demographic base : all of these things just beg for her to record a Christmas record. And why should she disappoint ? Ta-Da!  "The Gift."


I think I have said before that I liked her first album, and I still do. I don't go out and seek for it, but whenever a song from it plays on my iPod, I appreciate it, and bask in its "moment." "The Gift" follows a similar path - it's pretty low-key, and I suspect it's the type of album that "creeps" to you. It isn't flashy or showy in the manner of a Mariah Carey album. Mot of the arrangements are clean, and cross the border between traditional and new-age. Even I am surprised that Ms. Boyle sings with such nuance that you really never tire of listening to her. I also like that she mixes her songs with non-traditional secular selections, such as "Don't Dream It's Over," and "Perfect Day," and she does a sweet and soft version of "Hallelujah" that makes it distinctive to other versions (I think it would be a perfect counterpoint to kd lang's strong and defiant take) But let it be known that the album fares best on the traditional Christmas carols. They soar but never overpower. I can imagine singing them while having Christmas dinner - they won't be obstructive yet still provide the perfect atmosphere for the Holidays. My favorite track: "Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace," a song we used to sing in elementary. She whispers it almost, like a prayer. God would listen. 

Oh Ricky, You're So Fine

So sue me. I was very touched by Ricky's Oprah interview, his first since 'coming out,' and may even have shed a tear or two.  He seemed much more balanced now, though I dare say too balanced. It sounds like he have had years of therapy and is just regurgitating everything he learned on those sessions.  But fine, it shouldn't matter because his message now is as relevant as ever. And Oprah kept on saying that the book is beautifully written, making me curiouser and curiouser about it. I just checked the Kindle price to be 12.99 and I kind of refuse to pay that amount for an e-Book, so I sure will be checking The Strand for an ARC although, realistically, it would cost me close to that to buy the actual book over there. And an actual book can cause clutter. So I don't know. I do want to read it, though. And he looks mighty fine, too.  And he says that he is in a relationship right now. Seeing his media blitz reminded me of my friend James Dowd, who is a huge fan of his. I remember us discussing Ricky's sexuality during "the days." I wonder what he thinks of this now. I should message him on Facebook, now that I think about it. 


Oh how about this for a treat: Pipo's winning Halloween costume:

"The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It's the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun.

- Napoleon Hill

Teabag This!

My sister's suburb is int he cusp of the NJ/PA border, so her cable channels both have NJ and PA local channels. Today, I was channel-surfing and chanced upon the local PA stations. Apparently, Eastern Pennsylvania stations also cover the Delaware area and I hit upon the jackpot : the political ads by that witch Christien O'Donnell. Wow - they are as freaky and as  ludicrous as she sounds. "I am you," she says and I want to say no, you are not like me. I am not a Tea Party constituent. I just saw a declaration of her opponent, Chris Coons, beating her for the Senate seat, and thank God the people of Delaware still have common sense not to vote for this horrific excuse of a candidate. I think I will steer clear of all the "Election 2010" updates tonight. It would just upset me, and in the end, nothing good will come out of it. I have been tempted to comment on some Facebook friends who have gleefully announced Republicans winning in some races, since I know it will just cause grief for all involved. You know what, I think i will just pull out my Netflix discs to watch. Right now, that seems to be the "safest" bet. 


Oh, why don't I just post this wonderful picture taken during the Equinox cruise:

"All great changes are preceded by chaos."

- Deepak Chopra

Noontime Show

In Neil LaBute's new play, "The Break Of Noon," (now playing at The Lucille Lortel) he examine the link between religion and commercialism.  John Smith (played by David Duchovny) is a lone survivor of the worst gunshot massacre in American History, and he survives because, he claims, he was saved by God, and conversed with him during those trying moments. He brings this forth to a very skeptical world, of course. The play dissects how this realization affects him in all aspects of his life. 


I must first say that the performance I saw was from its very early previews. There are a lot of things that the play wants to convey, and some points get better highlight than others. Still, it asks tough questions, and we are meant to fill in the blanks. I really don't know if I ended up thinking more or questioning more after the performance, to be honest. David Duchovny's performance is a little too "literal" right now, it seems to be playing David Duchovny a lot of the times. There is a better performance from him being hinted, and perhaps it will manifest itself after he settles into the role more. The play revolves around his character, so the weight of the play rests upon his shoulder. An audience member asks him when he was signing autographs: "When you agreed to do the play, did you know you are on every scene," to which he just smiled and replied: "I just read that it was a good play." (Good for him for wisely answering a stupid question)


The rest of the support him adequately. Amanda Peet has an electric stage presence, although the two distinct roles she play are too similar. Just like every other LaBute play, there is a tinge of misogyny, so in that case it is just business as usual. The play isn't as provocative as I thought it would be, and it doesn't really ask any question that has not been asked before. I guess also in that aspect, it's business as usual too.

All Saints

I don't think there are a lot of people in the US celebrating All Saints Day or All Souls Day. Back home, that's what we observed around these times. I think now the concept of Halloween is more prevalent there, but I am sure everyone still went to the cemetery. I remember me and my cousins would all troop and pay our respects to family members who have passed away. We would spend the day at the cemetery, light candles, and say prayers. Of course, as we grew older, it became more party themed, using it as excuses to get together with friends, and cousins our own age. Then we would all "hang out." I don't know why I suddenly thought of this. Maybe because I am still awake at 3 in the morning, and I am seeing my Facebook newsfeed filled with friends who dressed up and went out for Halloween. I wish I still had the desire to do the same thing. But - old fogey and all. I know Pipo is probably out gallivanting in West Hollywood as I type this. I guess I will just have to catch up on my reading.

"We may tell ourselves that love is not really available. but the deeper truth is that we don't entirely trust it, and therefore have a hard time fully opening to it or letting it all the way into us. This disconnects us from our own heart, exacerbating our sense of love's scarcity."

- John Welwood