So, I was going to blog today about family holiday newsletters (because we have received a few already that are vair hillarious and blogworthy). But since I saw my email this morning and saw this who the hell cares about anything else?
Yes, yes and three times yessss!!!!
I can tell you what this means for sure, girlfriend has a trip to plan!!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Speed Racer Meets Mirrorball
Rock on, Helio! I love the quickstep! What a pity that I am currently unattached, as I would certainly be dragging my man out to ballroom lessons to try and rock a quickstep just like Helio and Julianne. As Bruno once said "You're so fun you should be a ride at Disneyland!"
Next up: Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann. How long will I watch this? Hard to say. But it sounds kinda fun...
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Frau: (More) Reflections
You know how people usually buzz and chatter at intermission? In the restroom for both intermissions there was perplexed SILENCE. Very odd.
What's the German for "Major Suckfest"?
Die Frau ohne Schatten at Lyric now has the distinction of being the only opera I've ever walked out on. I've seen my share of clunkers in the several odd years I've been going to Lyric (Turandot? Anyone? Mahagonny with the polar bears? Mouring Becomes Electra?). And I've also seen my share of really really looooonnnng operas - Marriage of Figaro, Alcina, Rodelinda, etc etc etc. But this is the only one I hated instantly. With the fire of a thousand suns.
Let me say first that the cast is a complete dream come true - Deborah Voigt, Christine Brewer, Robert Dean Smith, Franz Hawlata, Jill Grove - they all sang magnificently. But even Deborah (or 'Debz' as she is affectionately known - at least at my house)couldn't save this mess. The music was LOUD and discordant - it seems almost kind of Wagnerian - through composition with no overture, no breaks in the action for applause, no big showstopping arias to speak of. The story made NO SENSE AT ALL. I'm not talking like in an operatic way, where people trade clothes and are in instant disguises. I'm talking seriously no sense. Gazelle becomes woman. Has no shadow, can't have children. Husband will turn to stone. Goes out to make faustian kind of deal with a human woman to buy a shadow. Chaos ensues. I didn't really follow and I didn't really care.
Now to the length. Some operas (Rodelinda) are really long but they don't feel long. This one dragged on and on and on and on. The first act ALONE felt like it was 4 hours (in reality, it was just one). And then there was the production. First of all, if the title of the thing is "the woman without a shadow" I think it might be an idea to make sure that that particular character doesn't, oh, I don't know, actually cast a shadow? During the whole first act, the lighting was such that Debz was casting a shadow. And it was really obvious - the set didn't help that. I think if it was a little brighter, it may have. In other acts (okay, act) I noticed they moved the spot around with her so the shadow thing didn't happen.
We decided to give Act 2 a shot - hoping it would get better. At the very beginning, I was settling into my seat and a bony finger tapped me on the shoulder from behind. One of the little ancient ladies behind me wanted me to move so she could see better (is it me, or is that odd? What if I'd been a man with a large melon? What is it with these entitled 'I'm older than dirt so you have to do what I want' kind of opera patrons?).
The best part of the second act came when the 'Emperor' was lowered onto the stage on a large fake horse. They plonked him on the stage with an unceremonious thud. When he tried to get back on, the horse almost fell over. It was vair amusing. Then, he was lifted back into the air, to make it seem like he was moving, all the while, talking to his 'falcon' - hovering in the air in sequins and feathers in a neon floating box. I'm not even making this up. Then the idiot and his horse were lowered again, he got off, etc. Talked about killing the empress because she lied to him. Pondered using arrows. No. Sword? No. Good lord, the man can't even get on a horse, how's he going to kill anyone? Got back on the horse again and almost fell over (again). That was the highlight of the second act, so that should tell you something. While Debz and the Nurse (who was singing with a cold, but you'd never know it) were tempting the dyer's wife with a lovely young man, for some reason, Batman (a guy in black sequined cape and hat) showed up. Why? Why? Why? Also, someone dropped in to give the dyer (named 'Barak') a glowing, light-saber looking sword. It glowed in the dark. Why? Was the force especially strong with him? (how strong? as strong as a small pony!)
We left after that so I can't tell you what happened then. Overall synopsis: it SUCKED. A lot.
And for this, I missed Dancing with the Stars. Huummmph.
Let me say first that the cast is a complete dream come true - Deborah Voigt, Christine Brewer, Robert Dean Smith, Franz Hawlata, Jill Grove - they all sang magnificently. But even Deborah (or 'Debz' as she is affectionately known - at least at my house)couldn't save this mess. The music was LOUD and discordant - it seems almost kind of Wagnerian - through composition with no overture, no breaks in the action for applause, no big showstopping arias to speak of. The story made NO SENSE AT ALL. I'm not talking like in an operatic way, where people trade clothes and are in instant disguises. I'm talking seriously no sense. Gazelle becomes woman. Has no shadow, can't have children. Husband will turn to stone. Goes out to make faustian kind of deal with a human woman to buy a shadow. Chaos ensues. I didn't really follow and I didn't really care.
Now to the length. Some operas (Rodelinda) are really long but they don't feel long. This one dragged on and on and on and on. The first act ALONE felt like it was 4 hours (in reality, it was just one). And then there was the production. First of all, if the title of the thing is "the woman without a shadow" I think it might be an idea to make sure that that particular character doesn't, oh, I don't know, actually cast a shadow? During the whole first act, the lighting was such that Debz was casting a shadow. And it was really obvious - the set didn't help that. I think if it was a little brighter, it may have. In other acts (okay, act) I noticed they moved the spot around with her so the shadow thing didn't happen.
We decided to give Act 2 a shot - hoping it would get better. At the very beginning, I was settling into my seat and a bony finger tapped me on the shoulder from behind. One of the little ancient ladies behind me wanted me to move so she could see better (is it me, or is that odd? What if I'd been a man with a large melon? What is it with these entitled 'I'm older than dirt so you have to do what I want' kind of opera patrons?).
The best part of the second act came when the 'Emperor' was lowered onto the stage on a large fake horse. They plonked him on the stage with an unceremonious thud. When he tried to get back on, the horse almost fell over. It was vair amusing. Then, he was lifted back into the air, to make it seem like he was moving, all the while, talking to his 'falcon' - hovering in the air in sequins and feathers in a neon floating box. I'm not even making this up. Then the idiot and his horse were lowered again, he got off, etc. Talked about killing the empress because she lied to him. Pondered using arrows. No. Sword? No. Good lord, the man can't even get on a horse, how's he going to kill anyone? Got back on the horse again and almost fell over (again). That was the highlight of the second act, so that should tell you something. While Debz and the Nurse (who was singing with a cold, but you'd never know it) were tempting the dyer's wife with a lovely young man, for some reason, Batman (a guy in black sequined cape and hat) showed up. Why? Why? Why? Also, someone dropped in to give the dyer (named 'Barak') a glowing, light-saber looking sword. It glowed in the dark. Why? Was the force especially strong with him? (how strong? as strong as a small pony!)
We left after that so I can't tell you what happened then. Overall synopsis: it SUCKED. A lot.
And for this, I missed Dancing with the Stars. Huummmph.
Monday, November 26, 2007
The Woman Without a Shadow...
I know I haven't been posting a lot about opera lately. Reason being, I haven't been to any lately. Since I was sick last week, we ended up not going to Caesar. I love David Daniels as much as the next girl, but 4 and a half hours of Handel with a pounding headache, runny nose, sniffles and sore throat didn't sound like a good time to me (imagine that).
But we're back to Lyric tonight for this. It is another long one - clocking in at 4 hours, with an early curtain time of 6:30. I am looking forward to seeing Deborah Voigt, who is wonderful.
Just a sidebar here - can anyone explain to me that ugly cracked out Skrebneski photo of her they're using for this opera?? YUCK. She doesn't have a shadow, so that must mean she's neon green and visible from outer space? Very very very strange. I much prefer the new production images from the Met. Go to their website www.metoperafamily.org and there's a menu on the left side that gives you a link for new production images for 2007-2008. Natalie as Lucia? Gorgeous. Susan as Iphigenie? Also gorgeous. And the new Hansel and Gretel images are kinda cute, too.) Paging Lyric's marketing department: Watch and Learn.
Oh, and while you're at it, can you please stop sending me single ticket brochures? I already subsrcibe. What makes you think I want to buy tickets for multiple viewings of "Doctor Atomic"?? I'm not even sure I want to see it once!
Right, okay sorry. Full report of Frau tomorrow.
But we're back to Lyric tonight for this. It is another long one - clocking in at 4 hours, with an early curtain time of 6:30. I am looking forward to seeing Deborah Voigt, who is wonderful.
Just a sidebar here - can anyone explain to me that ugly cracked out Skrebneski photo of her they're using for this opera?? YUCK. She doesn't have a shadow, so that must mean she's neon green and visible from outer space? Very very very strange. I much prefer the new production images from the Met. Go to their website www.metoperafamily.org and there's a menu on the left side that gives you a link for new production images for 2007-2008. Natalie as Lucia? Gorgeous. Susan as Iphigenie? Also gorgeous. And the new Hansel and Gretel images are kinda cute, too.) Paging Lyric's marketing department: Watch and Learn.
Oh, and while you're at it, can you please stop sending me single ticket brochures? I already subsrcibe. What makes you think I want to buy tickets for multiple viewings of "Doctor Atomic"?? I'm not even sure I want to see it once!
Right, okay sorry. Full report of Frau tomorrow.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Over the river and through the woods...
Welcome to Black Friday! What's up with all these stores opening at 4:00 this morning? I don't know about you, but waking up really really early to stand outside in the cold in front of some store/mall/whatever among a million other people is not really my idea of a good time. I don't really like crowds. And I don't really like people. Big crowds of bargain-hunting people? Before I've had my coffee? Um, no.
In times past, my family used to go out shopping on Black Friday, although it was never that early. We've since stopped doing that, once I was old enough to declare "Aw, HELL no! I'm sleeping in!" Which is what I did this morning.
The sore throat I had earlier this week did indeed blossom into a full-blown cold, despite my glugging down Airborne and sucking on zinc lozenges. Consequently, when we made the trek over the river and thru the woods, as the song goes (okay, fine, it was really more like over the Edens and through Deerfield to Highland Park we go...) I was a big, sniffly, sneezy mess, armed with Kleenex and more Kleenex. And, this is possibly the worst part of the experience - I was unable to taste a damned thing. How devastating is that? On the one day of the year that we dedicate to eating a whole lot of tasty food, I can't taste a single thing. I was sitting around, watching the Packers game, and then the Cowboys game, stuffing my face and not being able to taste any of it... And we had all kinds of great stuff, shrimp and snacks, the turkey and stuffing...
Waitaminute. Let me take a second to tell you about this stuffing. It's one of my favorite foods on earth. The recipe came from my late grandmother. It's a rice based stuffing, not a bread one (in fact, we've eaten it for as long as I could remember, I was startled to learn that other people but bread stuffing in turkeys on Thanksgiving. I just had no idea. Anyway - Uncle Ben's rice, seasoning, ground beef and pork, apples and onions and assorted other seasonings, stuff it in the bird and yum yum yum. We only make it at Thanksgiving, so it's special when we get to have it.
Right, so anyway. We had mashed potatoes, yams (my grandmother puts amaretto on them), my favorite wine, and I had gone to the BomBon Cafe on Wednesday afternoon to pick up some tarts as a birthday treat. Do you think I could taste any of it? The answer you're looking for here is no.
On the scale of holiday bummers, I think this one is pretty high on the list, second only to one Christmas a few years ago. I'd had four impacted wisdom teeth, impacted so badly they were starting to hurt. We'd scheduled the surgery - wait for it - the day after Christmas. So not only was I in a whole bunch of pain, I was only able to eat soft foods at dinner....
But it's better today. So it's a good thing I saved some stuffing and chocolate tarts, huh?
In times past, my family used to go out shopping on Black Friday, although it was never that early. We've since stopped doing that, once I was old enough to declare "Aw, HELL no! I'm sleeping in!" Which is what I did this morning.
The sore throat I had earlier this week did indeed blossom into a full-blown cold, despite my glugging down Airborne and sucking on zinc lozenges. Consequently, when we made the trek over the river and thru the woods, as the song goes (okay, fine, it was really more like over the Edens and through Deerfield to Highland Park we go...) I was a big, sniffly, sneezy mess, armed with Kleenex and more Kleenex. And, this is possibly the worst part of the experience - I was unable to taste a damned thing. How devastating is that? On the one day of the year that we dedicate to eating a whole lot of tasty food, I can't taste a single thing. I was sitting around, watching the Packers game, and then the Cowboys game, stuffing my face and not being able to taste any of it... And we had all kinds of great stuff, shrimp and snacks, the turkey and stuffing...
Waitaminute. Let me take a second to tell you about this stuffing. It's one of my favorite foods on earth. The recipe came from my late grandmother. It's a rice based stuffing, not a bread one (in fact, we've eaten it for as long as I could remember, I was startled to learn that other people but bread stuffing in turkeys on Thanksgiving. I just had no idea. Anyway - Uncle Ben's rice, seasoning, ground beef and pork, apples and onions and assorted other seasonings, stuff it in the bird and yum yum yum. We only make it at Thanksgiving, so it's special when we get to have it.
Right, so anyway. We had mashed potatoes, yams (my grandmother puts amaretto on them), my favorite wine, and I had gone to the BomBon Cafe on Wednesday afternoon to pick up some tarts as a birthday treat. Do you think I could taste any of it? The answer you're looking for here is no.
On the scale of holiday bummers, I think this one is pretty high on the list, second only to one Christmas a few years ago. I'd had four impacted wisdom teeth, impacted so badly they were starting to hurt. We'd scheduled the surgery - wait for it - the day after Christmas. So not only was I in a whole bunch of pain, I was only able to eat soft foods at dinner....
But it's better today. So it's a good thing I saved some stuffing and chocolate tarts, huh?
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Five for Free...
Some random tidbits about me *, just in case we should ever appear on a game show together where you’d need to know such things…
1. I once sang backup for Barry Manilow
2. Sunday evenings, I will turn on the NFL game just so I can sing along with Faith Hill’s opening montage song (“I’ve Been Waiting All Day for Sunday Night”)
3. I’ve never been to Great America. It’s not that I have anything against it, or anything, I’ve just never had the opportunity to go.
4. For anyone who thinks working in the arts is one great big champagne filled, chocolate covered party, let me tell you, most days it just isn’t. For instance, right now I am peeling labels OFF of a mailer that we put on there by mistake. Oh, the glamour!
5. I am afraid of elevators. Not because it’s a small enclosed space (because if so, I’d also be afraid of sitting in my cubicle) – I just don’t like them. I’m always afraid I’ll get stuck. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if a person who feared elevators also had the fear of the number 13 (or triskaidekaphobia)…
* All true. I swear.
1. I once sang backup for Barry Manilow
2. Sunday evenings, I will turn on the NFL game just so I can sing along with Faith Hill’s opening montage song (“I’ve Been Waiting All Day for Sunday Night”)
3. I’ve never been to Great America. It’s not that I have anything against it, or anything, I’ve just never had the opportunity to go.
4. For anyone who thinks working in the arts is one great big champagne filled, chocolate covered party, let me tell you, most days it just isn’t. For instance, right now I am peeling labels OFF of a mailer that we put on there by mistake. Oh, the glamour!
5. I am afraid of elevators. Not because it’s a small enclosed space (because if so, I’d also be afraid of sitting in my cubicle) – I just don’t like them. I’m always afraid I’ll get stuck. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if a person who feared elevators also had the fear of the number 13 (or triskaidekaphobia)…
* All true. I swear.
behold... a new beverage...
Can you believe it's taken me so long to discover Argo Tea? I seem to be coming down with a little cold (happy birthday to me!) and wanted tea this morning. Argo is right on Randolph, on my way to the office here, and I decided to stop in. It is a veritable mecca of tea! I stood at the register for whole seconds, gawking up at the menu, trying to decide. I finally (thank god there was no line because I think they would have gotten a little miffed with me) selected the earl grey vanilla creme tea. I had something very similar a few years ago when I was in NYC and stopped at Moby's tea shop TeaNY. Oh my giddy god, is it ever good.
If someone would have told me, years ago, that I'd get this excited over some vanilla flavored earl grey tea, I would have just laughed and laughed. But it really is the little things that make you happy.
If someone would have told me, years ago, that I'd get this excited over some vanilla flavored earl grey tea, I would have just laughed and laughed. But it really is the little things that make you happy.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Take a Bao
Today I hit Wow Bao for lunch. I pass it every day and had wanted to go there for a while - I tried last week to go there and the line was out the door. No joke. This is a sign either that the place is super good OR that the place is too small. I will also admit that their little tagline makes me giggle. (I may be pushing the big 3-0 but the Outer Child definitely continues to be successful at suppressing her Inner Adult.)
I opted for a rice bowl (above. Pardon the photo, I snapped it with my phone) and not the famed Bao (which are steamed Chinese dumpling type things). Looks sort of like cat food on rice, doesn't it? And, possibly more disturbingly, it sort of smelled like cat food too.
I opted for a rice bowl (above. Pardon the photo, I snapped it with my phone) and not the famed Bao (which are steamed Chinese dumpling type things). Looks sort of like cat food on rice, doesn't it? And, possibly more disturbingly, it sort of smelled like cat food too.
The verdict? Okay, not great. It's kind of like Chipotle's burrito bowls but with more of an Asian flavor (and tons of cilantro. WTF is with the cilantro?) You get more food for your buck at Chipotle AND you can get their fabulous guacamole too. And their chicken looks and smells like chicken and not like something I would give to Start and Finish.
Anyway, if you're coming down to the loop for a visit and you want to take me to lunch, we won't get The Bao.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Recent Acquisitions
Ahhh, Verdi's La Traviata, starring Renée and Rolando. I think this is my favorite opera. I own two Callas recordings of it (Lisbon and Covent Garden. Maybe La Scala too? Don't remember...), I've seen it once (maybe twice?) at Lyric, once in Rome (at St. Peter in Chains church. Steamy June evening, and no supertitles. Just all of us and the music. Very intense. But fun. Also, I remember that was the night Italy was playing some sort of soccer match, and at one point, cars were driving around outside, honking their horns and people were cheering. Even the orchestra members sat up and sort of craned their necks to try and hear any kind of news of the results of the match.)And I have twice traveled to see Renée sing the role of Violetta - once in Houston, where she performed the role for the first time, and then at the Met. She'll be back in Chicago in January doing this role, and I am already counting down the days.
PS I Love You - will be a movie coming out next month featuring Mr. MacDreamy, Gerry Butler. I saw the book that the film is based on (above) in the store yesterday and drooled so much over the picture that I bought the book so I could continue to drool. (I know! Pathetic, right? It's not like he's going to come bursting forth from the pages! If only!) On the plus side, it sounds like a good story, so you know, that's good. I am curious about the movie though because apparently he's dead, and if it's going to be a lot of Hilary Swank wallowing in sadness (which, you know, I would be too, if I'd been married to him!) then it's going to be a long several hours...
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Oh okay...
Don't be alarmed, people. I don't actually have weird things growing on my desk (as in the picture below). That is El Gordo. He's my desk mascot (at least for another month or so)...
More like the Edens under construction...
An article in the September 2007 issue of Chicago Magazine gave some tips on how to 'Work Smarter' - the first tip (provided by Maureen Gainer Reilly) says the following:
1. Think of your desktop real estate as Lake Shore Drive. Too many people undervalue their desktop real estate. The top of your desk and the file drawers next to your chair are Lake Shore Drive; the filing cabinet that you have to walk to is the suburbs. Only when you understand how critical your desk is to your overall productivity can you begin to create a system that will save time in the long run. If you don’t use something at least once a week it does not deserve space in or on your desk.
1. Think of your desktop real estate as Lake Shore Drive. Too many people undervalue their desktop real estate. The top of your desk and the file drawers next to your chair are Lake Shore Drive; the filing cabinet that you have to walk to is the suburbs. Only when you understand how critical your desk is to your overall productivity can you begin to create a system that will save time in the long run. If you don’t use something at least once a week it does not deserve space in or on your desk.
Yeah. My desk? So not like Lake Shore Drive. I think it's a pretty bad sign when you've got stuff growing on your desk....
Monday, November 05, 2007
Sharing the joy....
So I got a little google alert today that directed me to the clip above, which I am purloining from the Clyde Fitch Report For whatever reason, I always always always get "A New Argentina" stuck in my head. So for the rest of the day, I will be roaming the halls singing random snatches of song. It's kind of like after I saw Mahagonny and spent a few days thereafter singing the cheerful anthem "Nothing you can do will help a dead man" - completely inappropriate. So. The best thing when you have something in your head is to get it into someone else's. Right? And there we have it. My gift to you. Enjoy!
get the juices flowing...
So I didn't mean to sound like a Grinch in the last post, nor did I mean to disparage the Mame song. Because I like Christmas. I do. And I am already thinking about it, especially gift ideas. I spent yesterday and some of Saturday afternoon working on my holiday cards. No, not actually writing/sending them (how organized do you think I AM?) but making them. I've kind of moved away from the scrapbooking (because without that 30% Archiver's discount man, it is a really !@#$*%&^ expensive hobby. So I've been making more cards. I've made my holiday cards for the past few years, with a few exceptions (last year's winter Seurat, for instance. Too.Perfect. to. Pass.Up.). I was pretty frustrated though on Saturday. I really felt like I'd lost my card making mojo.
Then Sunday, I bought Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding Card Kit and voila! I made the cards in the kit, but altered them a little bit so they had an individual kind of flava, and then I had other ideas and it just went from there. So yay!
Basic Grey has the best stuff ever... And if anyone has made the green box card, can you tell me what to do with it? I could not figure that one out...
Friday, November 02, 2007
Do we need a little Christmas - right this very minute?
So, lots of nice things happen after Halloween - Starbucks brings back their holiday coffees, there's thanksgiving, and my birthday (the 24th, if anyone sees this and wants to send presents or money...) But here's the thing I'm dreading - how early will the retailers start the playing of the Christmas music?
When I worked retail, one of my managers put the Christmas channel on right after Halloween. Naturally, we all rebelled and switched the station until about mid-November when I think the company mandated that the music be on. But - a number of other stores followed suit - very very alarmingly early, isn't it? I think that the holiday music should be restricted to the week immediately leading up to Christmas. Even that is pushing it. How about Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and maybe at parties?
I'd like retailers to know that playing Christmas music November 1 does not put me in the "holiday spirit" and therefore willing to buy more. (Only your prices will compel me to buy more or less, ya morons.) All that stupid music does is make me want to run from the store screaming "Nooo! Make it stop!" etc.
I think this comes from those retail days when I had to listen to the music piped in via satellite radio. You'd think it being satellite radio, the possibilities would be endless, no? But alas. It played the same bunch of songs on a loop. Over and over and over again. For six hour shifts or more. Too much. There aren't a lot of new holiday songs, either, so you pretty much have pop artists singing the old classics. I don't know about you, but I think the world needs only so many versions of some of these.
So when does the madness begin? I will let you know the first moment I hear a store playing holiday music. Or maybe I'll just wise up this year and do all my shopping online. That way, I can shop in my pajamas and listen to my own music. Brilliant!
When I worked retail, one of my managers put the Christmas channel on right after Halloween. Naturally, we all rebelled and switched the station until about mid-November when I think the company mandated that the music be on. But - a number of other stores followed suit - very very alarmingly early, isn't it? I think that the holiday music should be restricted to the week immediately leading up to Christmas. Even that is pushing it. How about Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and maybe at parties?
I'd like retailers to know that playing Christmas music November 1 does not put me in the "holiday spirit" and therefore willing to buy more. (Only your prices will compel me to buy more or less, ya morons.) All that stupid music does is make me want to run from the store screaming "Nooo! Make it stop!" etc.
I think this comes from those retail days when I had to listen to the music piped in via satellite radio. You'd think it being satellite radio, the possibilities would be endless, no? But alas. It played the same bunch of songs on a loop. Over and over and over again. For six hour shifts or more. Too much. There aren't a lot of new holiday songs, either, so you pretty much have pop artists singing the old classics. I don't know about you, but I think the world needs only so many versions of some of these.
So when does the madness begin? I will let you know the first moment I hear a store playing holiday music. Or maybe I'll just wise up this year and do all my shopping online. That way, I can shop in my pajamas and listen to my own music. Brilliant!
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