Humor/Entertainment
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Back again
Much fun was had at last night’s performance of “Wicked” at the Pantages Theater (right at the corner of Hollywood and Vine).
Didn’t get (read: “couldn’t afford") all of the fancy stuff I wanted to get and give away, but I got a T-shirt, both books and a wand for our youngest granddaughter. (The pink “Glinda” variety, rather than the green “Elphaba” one.) Da Missus got a little green stuffed monkey. That and a bottle of water was $144, total…
I’m not kidding.
Throw in the $350 for the tickets (pretty good seats, fwiw), $200 for the hotel room (which was definitely not worth that much*) and the limo ride from hotel to theater and back again, and the trip was just a smidgen under a grand…
For less than a day.
Which explains why I couldn’t afford anything else.
But Da Missus LOVED it. So much so, we’ll be going back in a few weeks. We’ll just be staying somewhere else.
* - Don’t EVER waste your money on the Wilshire Plaza. They had three ice machines in the entire 12-story hotel, no room service after 12 noon, the floor of the room was uneven, the wallpaper was peeling at the edges, the room smelled BADLY of cigarette smoke, the thermostat was apparently inoperable (and stuck on “cold"), and the view was of a Carl’s Jr. restaurant across the street. Two stars out of five. Maybe.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
I got nothing to add
Seriously, can YOU think of a better caption?
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
The 2008 Democratic nomination process
Better swallow first. I’m specifically refusing any claims for ruined keyboards and/or monitors.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
I’m going to sound weird
I cannot find the words to express how incredible I think this young woman is. I’ve mentioned her a couple of times here and here, but I can only think that if history is any guide, we will all be hearing a great deal more about her.
Can you say “triple threat”? Actress, singer, songwriter.
- She has the vocal range of Mariah Carey and the raw power of Ethel Merman. That much I knew from listening to the Wicked Soundtrack ("The Wizard And I"/"Defying Gravity"/"For Good").
- She’s not my particular cup of tea in the looks department (I think she has a bit of a strong jawline and her nose is what could politely be referred to as “generous”, but so does Salma Hayek), and she apparently has plenty of people who would gleefully kill me for even going that far. (Sorry, guys, but I love my wife.)
- She also has quite the bubbly personality in person (based on what I can see in “behind the scenes” stuff I’ve found at Youtube).
- She can act, having been in several “name” movies - ”Enchanted” (opposite Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams), Ask the Dust (with Selma Hayek), Rent (with Rosario Dawson and Jesse Martin) - as well as some independent stuff (”Kissing Jessica Stein” ) but…
- She has also won a Tony Award for Best Actress (2004 for playing Elphaba in “Wicked"), and “Tony” is to the stage actor what “Oscar” is to the screen actors and “Emmy” is to the TV actors.
- She clearly has good taste in men, having been married to Taye Diggs for several years now (a fine actor in his own right, and my wife says he’s “good looking”, so I’ll take her word on the subject). And, finally…
- She has a new album out, released about eight weeks ago. Ten original songs, written and performed by this incredibly talented lady.
She has even released a video single for one of the sings from this album. “Brave”, from her album “I Stand”.
I truly think that this young lady is destined for big success. She deserves it, too, as talented as she is…
I don’t say things like this very much, but it’s like this: when I see something I get exercised about, I come here and rant about it and blow off steam. Maybe spread the word and get others as pissed about it as I am.
But there’s a flip side to that coin, too. When I see something good that deserves wider acclaim, I will be just as vociferous about it. And for exactly the same reasons. And when I find talent like this, I want to turn on all of my friends to it, and hope that they like it just as much (just like when I discovered Dark Side Of The Moon, but without the need for narcotics to follow the lyrics).
So, here I am. Being vociferous about a lady who has talent to spare. (I kinda like the title track, too, fwiw.)
Friday, March 28, 2008
Unexpected talent
Y’know, I’m an autodidact, and when I start delving into subjects, I follow the Muse where she leads. You might have noticed the fringes of my recent study of Broadway musicals, but trust me, that’s only the fringes. (I drive my wife occasionally crazy with those mini-obsessions, but they only last a week or so.) But every now and then, I discover that the more I get into things, the more I am greeted with unexpected talents from unexpected sources. Interested in recent musicals, I was checking out “Rent”, and found that Jesse L. Martin (currently on “Law & Order") has an incredible baritone singing voice. And while I have my suspicions that the audio track was laid down after the video part was shot, I can tell that it is really Jesse singing here.
My high school choir singing days are long since behind me, and talent like this makes me realize that they were but a faint jest. Guess that’s why I never decided on music for a career…
Playing catch-up
Still smarting from the fail of my boot drive (although I did manage to save essential files, I wasn’t in time to save all of the nifty little freebies out there - such as my music editing software, my web browser stuff, download manager, and the long-since forgotten passwords for all of the various sites for which I am a “member” (I’d almost forgotten the master password for this site, which would have made life interesting for a few days...).
But life catches up, and I’m pleased to say that I am back to about 80% of what I had collected over the years. Some of these things I had forgotten where I had gotten them from and had to search for each and every one as they occurred to me. (Have you ever had to Google “free music editor” looking for the ONE program you know well, is spam- and trojan-free, and can handle all of the different kind of files you run into? Try it, and see how damnably difficult it is to find the right one.)
Anyhoo, I’ll soon be back to posting about all of the shit you’ll be able to find almost anywhere else on the web, but with that particular flair and snark you’ve come to know and loathe that you can only get here… 
Meanwhile, I could suggest a few of my favorite games to fill the time…
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Sunrise with Simply Red
Wow.
I never would have thought that the combination of Hall & Oats and Simply Red would turn out to be something great. I heading to iTunes to get a copy of this.
(Music video below the jump)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Remember what I said
about Idina Menzel sounding like she’s got a third lung tucked away somewhere?
Well, judge for yourself. Here’s a performance of the song that ends Act 1. May I present Joel Grey (who played the Wizard on Broadway), introducing Kristin Chenoweth (she of ‘The West Wing’ and ‘Pushing Daisies’ fame) as Glinda and Idina Menzel as Elphaba.
Now THIS is what they call “Hegenomy”
People accuse America of being an Evil Empire or of having “imperial” ambitions. (Quick hint: if we’re not collecting taxes or tributes from our alleged “empire”, it isn’t an empire.)
The correct word is ”Hegemony”.
leadership or predominant influence exercised by one nation over others
And it isn’t a military or economic influence (though those do exist), it is a cultural one.
Thanks to Craig at Protein Wisdom, I bring you the epitome of cultural assimilation.
Back in the days of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Red Army had an official choir composed of male soldiers and musicians. It still exists. The Red Army Choir performs throughout Russia to this day.
Now consider the Finnish rock band called The Leningrad Cowboys. A little while ago, they held a concert in Russia, in which - to the screaming applause of Russkie teen-agers - they got the Red Army Choir to join them on stage for a performance of “Sweet Home Alabama.” In English. You couldn’t make this up.
Skaal! 
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Oh, before I forget
Would the three winners of last week’s contest please let me know when they receive their prizes, either by dropping a comment or an e-mail? (I had a friend drop them in the mail Friday afternoon.)
Thanks bunches! 
Oh, if I can suggest a really cool musical, I’ve been listening to the official soundtrack from “Wicked” (the original Broadway cast, with Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel doing superb jobs as Glinda and Elphaba, respectively). I’ve discovered that the soundtrack is missing a song from Act Two - “The Wicked Witch Of The East” - but it still provides some great listening.
And Idina Menzel sounds like she has a third lung tucked away somewhere.
Berkeley better start shaking
And not just from the seismic faults…
Still skimming through the State Constitution, and found another interesting tidbit:
CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 7 PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEESSEC. 9. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution, no person or organization which advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United States or the State by force or violence or other unlawful means or who advocates the support of a foreign government against the United States in the event of hostilities shall:
(a) Hold any office or employment under this State, including but not limited to the University of California, or with any county, city or county, city, district, political subdivision, authority, board, bureau, commission or other public agency of this State; or
(b) Receive any exemption from any tax imposed by this State or any county, city or county, city, district, political subdivision, authority, board, bureau, commission or other public agency of this State.The Legislature shall enact such laws as may be necessary to enforce the provisions of this section.
There goes the entire Berkeley City Council and a goodly chunk of the administration and faculty at their college.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
In response to
this little nugget of information:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton essentially even in the race for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. It’s Obama 46% Clinton 45% (see recent daily results). This reflects an unusually sharp change from yesterday’s results when Obama led by eight points and reached the 50% level of support for the first time.
Dan Collins opines:
Huh. Wonder what that’s due to.
To quote the Puppy Blender: Heh.
Yet more: Hah. “Barack Murray Obama”
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Interesting bit of mathematical fun
I was flipping through the Intartubie-thingies and ran across a weird link to a page that had a Java calculator to determine on which day of the week a given calendar date would fall/has fallen.
Y’see, there is a special day of the week for any given year, referred to as the “Doomsday” for that year. (I don’t know why they used that word, but never mind...) There are several days during the year that all fall on that Doomsday, and once you have determined what the Doomsday for a given year is, you can then figure out, by either adding or subtracting, what day of the week your selected date falls.
First, the formula to determine that special day of the week.
- If the year is 19xx, divide xx by 12, to get a quotient ‘Q’ and remainder ‘R’.
- Divide ‘R’ by 4 to get another quotient ‘S’, and ignore any remainders.
- Add Q+R+S and count that many days from Wednesday (the “Doomsday” for the 1900’s; see below), circling the week as many times as needed, and you will determine the Doomsday for the year in question.
The Doomsday for the various centuries advances backwards through the week in a four-century cycle. To determine the Doomsday from which you must start counting for any given century, you can use the following table.
In years
- 15xx, 19xx, 23xx, etc., use Wednesday
- 16xx, 20xx, 24xx, etc., use Tuesday
- 17xx, 21xx, 25xx, etc. use Sunday
- 18xx, 22xx, 26xx, etc., Use Friday
Remember, this will only work for Gregorian calendar years (which means that any date earlier than early October, 1582 requires that you do all of these calculations, and then add three more days (to make up for the 10 days chopped out of the year when October 4th moved right into October 15th with no intervening days between).
Okay, so it’s worthless. Doesn’t mean it isn’t interesting. In any case, don’t give up yet…
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Can you guess which one?
Monday, February 04, 2008
Time To Vote
From Rosemary, the Queen of all Evil:
While walking down the street one day, a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.
“Welcome to heaven,” says St. Peter. “Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we’re not sure what to do with you.”
“No problem, just let me in,” says the man.
“Well, I’d like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we’ll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.”