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Watch out for falling Mooninites
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Feb. 1st, 2007 @ 04:55 pm
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http://greedoneverfired.blogspot.com/2007/01/aquateen-terror-force.html
LULZ. Someone stuck one of these signs right next to the "Creative Spaces" sign on our building a few weeks ago. One of the DTP guys knocked it down and brought it back upstairs to the office, where we all WTF?'ed about it for about a week. |
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Dance 10, Looks 3
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Jan. 23rd, 2007 @ 10:26 pm
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I've been obsessively watching episodes of "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" on YouTube, mostly because it's far superior to "You're the One That I Want." Andrew Lloyd Webber - icky! Why is his head being swallowed up by his neck? Still, he's far superior to that tool, Jim Jacobs on the other show, who in trying to be sarcastic Simon Cowell-like, only ends up looking like a giant douchebag. And Kathleen Marshall. Check out how not into it she is. Maybe she's drinking to ease the pain. If I had to sit through those rounds of Danny and Sandy auditions, I'd be permanently soused too.
Anyway, "Maria" - it's nice to hear the contestants actually sing an entire song instead of a platoon of performers honking out four lines while they proceed to demolish an Aerosmith song. You had Yvonne Elliman (great!), Footloose (not great!). Siobhan sucks though. She can't keep pitch. The only reason I see how she managed to get to the final three is because ALW is going senile. "She's delicious." Shut up, you toad.
And can I say that John Barrowman macking on all the Marias segment really squicked me out? Gah! The whole smacking lips, testing breath thing was SO SLEAZY. Yes, he's hot and all, but YUCK. STOP LOOKING SO PLEASED WITH YOURSELF.
Okay. Back to watching the final three. |
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There's Our Hitler!
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Jan. 6th, 2007 @ 03:44 pm
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Next season on Dexter - the all-singing, all-dancing episode!
Oh, the unlimited amusement found in digging up old legit performances. From December of 1999.
( Michael C. Hall, Cabaret & Nipple Rouge )
If I can remember where I put it, I'll post a video clip of Ron Rifkin as Herr Schultz later. |
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Musicals galore
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Dec. 11th, 2006 @ 10:39 pm
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Based on Frank Wedekind's scandalous (well, in 1891) expressionist play about adolescent sex, suicide, incest and abuse, with a rocking score by Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening was probably the highlight of my quick jaunt through NY & London.
Video clip of John Gallagher Jr. & Lauren Pritchard performing Don't Do Sadness and Blue Wind:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/jcfk7c
So, how many shows can one cram in in 10 days?
NYC:
-Spring Awakening. Many, many hearts. Admittedly, the very last part of the ending was weak, but it was still in previews and being tweaked when I saw it. Three times. What?
-Tom Stoppard's Coast of Utopia. Much, much love for Stoppard, though unimpressed with Ethan Hawke
-Evil Dead, the Musical. With stunning classics such as "What the Fuck Was That?" and "All My Lovers Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons." If you were sitting in the first three rows you got drenched with stage blood during the chainsaw scene. Pretty much what you'd expect out of a corny, low-budget, off-B'way comedy production, but fun.
-The Big Voice - God or Merman. I liked the first half of the autobiographical story of the two folks who created the musical, The Last Session. The second half...well, it sort of dragged into a bit of a self-congratulatory fapfest.
-High Fidelity. I really, really wanted to love it, considering I adored a number of the tracks on the demo. I didn't hate it, but eh. A handful of really great songs and a couple of funny moments can't pull together a show about people I couldn't give a crap about milling aimlessly around the stage for two hours.
-Mamma Mia. Uh. It was on TKTS. And I would watch Carolee Carmello sing names out of a telephone book. So there.
-Spamalot. Because I couldn't get a ticket to Regrets Only or Suddenly, Last Summer. On the other hand, Marin Mazzie, yay!
London:
-Wicked. Actually, had I known Kerry Ellis was going to only be on for the Wednesday matinee, I would've tried to catch that show instead of the evening one with Idina.
-Billy Elliot. A lot of fun. I wonder how it's going to transfer over to Broadway. I'd also bet it's going to be "sanitized" a bit before opening as well.
-Evita. I've always liked the score, but I keep forgetting how much I dread the second act - as it's generally about forty dragging minutes of Evita dying. Elena Roger is fantastic though - great dancer and a striking, raw voice that's just short of a primal growl. Eva ain't putting out the pretty poppy pap here.
-The Woman in Black. This was recommended as "must see" by several folks who thought it was the scariest show ever. I am no longer speaking to those people. I actually started falling asleep when the RECORDED SCREAM followed by real ones of the audience (WTF? Are they cued? Sheep?), including the idiot to my left screaming into my ear, woke me up. CHEATING, MAN! CHEATING! CANNED SCREAMS FOLLOWING OBVIOUS SHOCK MOMENTS (and by that I mean, sudden blackouts and doors opening) DO NOT MAKE A SHOW SCARY.
-Love Songs. Admittedly, I saw this play primarily for the pretty, pretty Cillian Murphy, who got to be all scruffy, nebbish and schizophrenic on stage. It turned out to be hilarious and while not extraordinarily deep, cute, smart and fun. Neve Campbell, apparently out looking for legit credits, did a fine job, as well as the always awesome Kirsten Johnson and Michael McKean.
-Porgy and Bess. Great singing. Nice sets. Interesting "whittled down" production of the original opera. But, you know. Opera. And opera plot. "Pooooo-GEEEEEE, aaaaaah issss YOOOOOOOUR WUUU-mun NOOoooooOOOOW." Glarg. Kinda wish I saw Mary Poppins instead.
In between shows, I wandered through Waterloo, Picadilly Square, Leicester Square/Charing Cross/Covent Garden, bought a die-cast 6" dalek from the Scificollector shop, a bunch of overpriced DVDs from Dress Circle, picked out sweets, had fish & chips, bangers & mash, discovered what a "toad in a hole" was and washed everything down with beer. First time I'd ever been to London, and I loved every minute of it there.
Except for the mushy peas. |
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More about the musicals
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Nov. 13th, 2006 @ 02:18 pm
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Traveled back up to Seattle to catch Stephen Sondheim's Company. Now, Sondheim can either be excellent with a good cast, or mind-bendingly bad with a not-so good one. Fortunately, for my 75(!) dollar ticket (wow, have I been out of the loop), it was quite excellent.
Amusingly enough, Hugh Panaro (former Phantom on Broadway) and Kendra Kassebaum (former Glinda in Wicked)were probably less recognizable than Shelly Burch (of One Life to Live) or any of the other regional actors in Seattle.
Anyway, here's Hugh singing "Being Alive" with some "unofficial footage" of the production. Even if you don't care for Sondheim (or musicals in general), it's worth a look because he does have a lovely voice.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5674405788833457066&q=panaro
In one of those little freak coincidences, (much like the two Joseph Moncure March Wild Party productions which opened simultaneously on & off Broadway a few years back), the Doyle production of Company starring Raul Esparza...and a bunch of other people I don't know, is in previews on Broadway.
When I make the annual trip to NYC later this month, it'll make for an interesting comparison. At the moment, though, I'm more looking forward to the jaunt from NY to London, to catch Kevin Spacey in A Moon for the Misbegotten, the new Cabaret and Evita productions, Bent with Alan Cumming, and Billy Elliot. |
| » Theatre geekery strikes again! |
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Caught Wicked in Seattle a few weeks ago. It's kinda awful and great at the same time. Song lyrics that range from pretty smart to, well, cringeworthy. All the nudge-nudge-wink-wink-say-no-more references to the Wizard of Oz. And a nice build up to the first act finale...that completely loses all semblance of coherent plot midway through act two.
And now I can't get these damn songs out of my head.
Seriously.
Help me.
At all sorts of inopportune times I find myself suddenly, defy-eeeeng GRAAAAVITYYYYYY!. It's beginning to piss me off. And my co-workers. Anyone within earshot, actually.
(I once had Unskinny Bop stuck on brain replay for six months. I fear much worse for this. )
So, because I shouldn't have to suffer alone, I present a mix of Wicked tracks from various performances.
( YOU WILL GET THESE STUCK IN YOUR HEAD TOO )
Also caught Sweet Charity when it passed through. Molly Ringwald appears to be seven feet tall. She was positively ginormous in red and stiletto heels next all the tiny, wiry little dancers.
To top it off, I ended up buying the DVD of RENT this weekend and. Um. I suspect I've grown too old and stuffy to properly appreciate the plight of the starving artist (or at least a group of people in their mid-thirties acting like a bunch of twentysomethings). Instead of "Yeah! fight the system!" when Roger and Mark tossed out the bin of flaming garbage, it was more, "Assholes, stop littering!"
I was fully expecting to start grumbling about the damn kids that needed to get off my porch and get a JOB next, but then, oh, how all those songs came back to me, the stuff I adored years ago. Seasons of Love. One Song Glory. Tango Maureen. Out Tonight. I'll Cover You. Take Me or Leave Me. Without You. Goodbye Love (cut scene, boo!)
And how much did I love that it ended on a final snapshot of Angel (Shunard, not Fangy McForehead).
Oct. 18th, 2006 @ 03:15 am
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| » I WANT THESE MUTHERFUCKIN' TERRORISTS OFF MY MUTHERFUCKIN' PLANE |
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From the China Daily:
To work as a flight attendant, young women, for the first time in the country, are required to have martial arts skills, sources close to Sichuan Airlines confirmed this week.
Next Thursday, the airline is to recruit 70 hostesses from Chengdu and Chongqing to work for a new flight route from Chengdu to Seoul in South Korea.
One of the priority conditions for candidates will reportedly be knowledge of kung fu, as staff with such experience are believed to be able to help the airlines further secure its aviation safety.
Chonqing Business News
Don't even think about blocking the cart when the in-flight meal is being served. They will karate chop your ass.
On a similar note, I went to go see the Legend of Kung Fu show a few nights ago. It was, uh, an interesting combination of martial arts and random ballet, with dramatic music and lit up like Elton John's Aida.
More about that later. I need to run off and be a tourist.
Aug. 18th, 2006 @ 04:02 pm
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| » And I thought this was an urban legend |
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From today's China Daily:
Amjad Ali, a poor villager frm the Cholistan Desert in eastern Pakistan, was promised a job and money in exchange for a kidney.
[...]
"They promised me a job and took me to Rawalpindi. They drugged me, made me unconscious for days, and cut out my kidney," Amjad said his voice full of bitterness, as his father wept silently beside him.
[...]
Unlike many other parts of the world, including neighbouring India, there is no law in Pakistan banning the trade in organs.
-Agencies
In other news:
Three professional divers developed the skill of drinking beers in deep water by withstanding the almost unbearable pressure underwater.
During a show they made last week in the Chengdu Aquarium of Sichuan Province, they each opened a bottle of beer and drank them all in only 90 seconds while sitting 4 metres underwater, moving their breathing masks briefly.
However, they made it clear that "it was rather dangerous for ordinary people to try it."
-Tianfu Morning Post
Clearly, they have their priorities straight.
Aug. 15th, 2006 @ 05:22 pm
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| » From the China Daily paper |
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About 51.5 percent of the respondents said they had learnt nothing practical in university and 39.2 percent said they couldn't land a job with a bachelor's degree, the survey said.
Nearly 4.13 milion university students graduated in 2006, compared with 1.15 million in 2001. But salaries for university graduates have been declining. Six years ago, university graduates could easily find a job with a monthly salary of 2,500-3,000 yuan (US$312-375). But now graduates are willing to work for just hundreds of yuan a month, the survey said.
That's just...wow.
In other news (For a national paper, this sucker is sure rife with typos. I eventually got tired of adding all the [sic]s and simply corrected the spelling errors. Left the grammar alone, because...well, just read.):
Jiaxiang police in Zhejiang Province were speechless when a college student revealed her motive for blackmaling her neighbour: she wished to earn quick to buy fashionable clothes.
Tired of the summer holiday, Cai recently sent several anonymous letters to one of her neighbours, threatening to endanger the family's lives if they did not give her 30,000 yuan (US$3699). The neighbour alerted police, who soon targeted Cai as the suspect. At the police office, Cai admitted that she had committed the crime because she thought it a quick but exciting way to earn money.
And they say TV'll damage your brain.
There's a whole page of this kind of stuff in the paper. Reminds me of high-school newspapers in its earnest-if-rough charm. The actual real news segments thankfully come from Reuters and other agencies.
Aug. 14th, 2006 @ 05:21 pm
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| » Woman Walks into a Bar |
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I took my mother to a strip bar once.
( A little NSFW )
Off to China for a week next Saturday. (This isn't the big trip; that's in late September)
Aug. 1st, 2006 @ 08:32 pm
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