creative force...

"What about the creative state? In it a man is taken out of himself. He lets it down as it were a bucket into his subconscious, and draws up something which is normally beyond his reach. He mixes this thing with his normal experiences, and out of the mixture he makes a work of art... And when the process is over, when the picture or symphony or lyric or novel (or whatever it is) is complete, the artist, looking back on it, will wonder how on earth he did it. And indeed, he did not do it on earth."

- E.M. Forester, The Raison d'Etre of Criticism in the Arts

coming up...

Busy busy busy for the next couple of weeks, here's where I'll be, if you should be looking for me, or would like to join me for dinner and a show (and a dirty martini?? Haha, just kidding!) But don't call me while I am at the theater, particularly on March 5,6,7. Keep reading, you will see why. I have good seats and don't want The Wrath unleashed.

2/26 Cinderella at ATRU - working at the donor table, come say hi!
2/27 Cinderella at ATRU (matinee)- working again, stop and buy raffle tickets!
2/28 Cinderella at ATRU - in the audience this time!
3/4 Stephen Sondheim at the Harris Theater - a word on this one. I was at Physical Therapy yesterday and chatting with my therapist about the good, stress relieving things in my future, and I mentioned, happily, that I was going to see Sondheim speaking at the Harris. She smiled cheerfully and said "Who's that?" Soul crushing. Maybe working in a performing environment and having show geeks as friends, I just naturally assume that everyone's heard of him? I don't think I've ever run across anyone who's never at least heard the name Sondheim (even in the lyrics of Rent?). Ah well. I'm excited to see him, anyway, even if I HATE the danged Harris Theater with a fiery passion.
3/5, 6, 7 Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin's Rainbow Tour. Okay, fine, they're not actually calling it that, but they should! And yes, I am going three times. Don't judge me. I'm taking some people each of those nights (and meeting up with some of mom's North Shore co-workers who squealed like schoolgirls at the chance of seeing Mandy. Last time he was in Skokie, he sang in Yiddish a little and had all of these ladies eating out of the palm of his hand.) I love watching both of them together and am very very very excited. Something to look forward to, and after the week I've had, I NEED IT.

End of the month, I'm heading back to the airport hangar known as the Harris Theater for Christine Ebersole. Whew!!!!

Olympic men's curling semifinal: Norway 7 Switzerland 5 final.

Olympic men's curling semifinal: Norway 7 Switzerland 5 final.

I have become a fan of "The Norwegian Olympic Curling Team's Pants" on Facebook. Go pants, go!

thinking caps on, dolls...

Today on Patti Lu's website:

"Dolls, I've been busy writing the story of my theatrical life and need your help to find a suitable and fabulous title. If your entry is selected you'll win an autographed copy of the book, two tickets to my next Broadway show (or major show in a city near you), and I'll congratulate you personally at the theatre. Contest ends March 30, 2010"

Go to the website to submit suggestions

the diva's Dark Hope

Below is an article from the LA Times about Renée Fleming's new album, Dark Hope, to be released this spring/summer. I am so very excited about this - I love Renée's voice when she sings more contemporary and jazz pieces (my absolute favorites of hers are "All the Wasted Time" from Parade, and her entire "Haunted Heart" album). She is such a multi-faceted artist, and I appreciate her willingness to explore and take risks to expand her own horizons as an artist. So bring it on, Renée. I have already pre-ordered my copy.

From the LA Times:
When not performing in opera houses around the world, soprano Renée Fleming has been known to dip a manicured toe into the waters of jazz, Broadway tunes, holiday music and film soundtracks ("The Lord of the Rings").

In what may be a first for the ubiquitous Grammy-winning opera star, Fleming is traveling way downtown in her new album, "Dark Hope," in which she performs pieces by indie-rock bands including Muse, Arcade Fire, Band of Horses and Death Cab For Cutie.

The album also includes songs by Peter Gabriel, Tears for Fears, The Mars Volta, Jefferson Airplane and Leonard Cohen.

"Dark Hope," which is being released by Decca, is scheduled to go on sale this spring. Amazon lists the release date as June 8.

Fleming worked with producer David Kahne on the project, but the idea for the album came from Peter Mensch and Cliff Burnstein (from the talent agency Q-Prime Management), who persuaded the opera star to take on the challenge.

Fleming has said that she tried to find a "stylistically authentic" way of performing the songs and that "singing in the lowest part of my voice was key to making this work."

The singer described making the album as "a wonderful learning curve, one reminiscent of my early days studying Mozart as a Juilliard student."

She also said her two daughters and sister performed as back-up singers on the album.

"Dark Hope" contains 11 tracks...
Endlessly (Muse)
No One's Gonna Love You (Band of Horses)
Oxygen (Willy Mason)
Today (Jefferson Airplane)
Intervention (Arcade Fire)
With Twilight as My Guide (The Mars Volta)
Mad World (Tears for Fears)
In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel)
Stepping Stone (Duffy)
Soul Meets Body (Death Cab For Cutie)
Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)

i won't send roses...

There is so much to love about this clip - another beautiful T&D moment and Robert Preston singing "I won't send roses" from Mack & Mabel...

the gold standard

This, my friends, is ice dancing. None of these required side by side wotsits, just pure artistry on ice.

aren't they a gem?? i'll drink to them!

In honor of our fancy shmancy event today - I'd like to propose a toast:

backstage at Cinderella!

 

WGN was backstage with us last night as Cinderella opened! Come and see it!

why i am cheering for team norway's curlers

These pants alone? Worth the cost of admission. Go, Norway, go.

Cinderella!

The Joffrey's Cinderella begins this week!

the final word on "American Buffalo"

This was part of an ad on the back cover of the playbill. Made me laugh out loud.

This... is AMERICAN Buffalo!

I'd been wanting to see American Buffalo at Steppenwolf for a while and decided, naturally, that it would be a really awesome idea to see it on Valentine's Day. What says Valentine's Day more than a David Mamet play??

So. I dragged Heidi (my fellow fabulously single friend!) off to the 'Wolf - wait, I must digress here. In Chris Jones's rather gushy review of August: Osage County, he referred to it as "the 'Wolf" - and I have never ever ever ever ever ever ever (ever!) heard it referred to that way. So I need to ask - is this a thing? Is this what all the cool kids are saying? Like, if I ever met Gary Sinise or John Malkovich somewhere (and could scrape together enough brain power to say anything coherent to them) would I ask them if they still get a chance to do much at "the 'Wolf"? Did Mr. Jones just make that up to sound cool? Or do people actually say that? I am serious here. I really want to know.

Back to the show. It was my first David Mamet experience. American Buffalo is described by "the 'Wolf" (I promise I will stop calling it that, unless you really want me to, Mr. Sinise) in the following way "In a cluttered, run-down Chicago junk shop, three small time crooks plot to steal a valuable Buffalo nickel. As the heist unravels, the men's frustration and paranoia intensify. Ensemble member Amy Morton directs this ground-breaking American play that weaves humor and menace throughout an emotionally charged struggle for identity and dominance." Ensemble members Tracy Letts, Francis Guinan and Patrick Andrews were our small town crooks. The dialogue was rapid fire Chicago-ese and was off like a runaway el train. The first act went by SO FAST, I could not even believe it. I got up out of our (really good, row B) seats and went about my intermission business.

As I was waiting to grab a snack, I heard this woman behind me, sounding like she'd just sucked an entire tankful of helium, telling her (world-suffering) husband, rather accusingly "This is NOTHING like Legally Blonde." Well, um, no. It's not. Were you expecting it to be? Although this was my first Mamet play, I had gone into it with some expectations and let me tell you, if I was going to compare it to something else that I thought might be similar, Legally Blonde would not have been at the top of that list. It would actually not have been on the list at all. Hello? She then said something about how the cadence of the dialogue made her want to fall asleep which I thought was really really odd, because they were talking really fast. Which I am used to, you know, because I'm a Chicagoan and we, like, talkreallyfast. Her husband then said that all of the (and I quote) "playhouses" were not really open today, and the only things they could have seen were this and "Osage County" - which his wife thought would have been much better to see (maybe she thought it would be more like Legally Blonde?) and I am really glad they were not sitting by me because I probably would have hit her if I'd had to listen to her voice for another single minute. As it was, I grabbed my bar of bacon chocolate and fled.

I liked the show. It was dark, it was funny (in a dark way, ya know?) it was deeper than three crooks in a junk shop. Letts, Guinan and Andrews were great in their roles. There were two interruptions by telephone, both in rather critical second act moments. These great actors did not skip a beat, they soldiered on (even though, in their place, I would have roared "What the FUCK is that??" they kept their cool.)

On their closing night, the 'Wolf did not disappoint (couldn't help myself). After the show, Heidi and I sat in her car and ate our bacon chocolate and had the following things to say regarding this Vosges confection:

Heidi: This is weird.

Me: It's weird.

Heidi: Very weird.

Me: Fucking weird!!!

Very appropriate, yes? Showing off our facility for quotation (anybody?) and with a Mamet spirit to boot. Happy Valentine's Day.

Happy Birthday, Renee!

A very happy birthday to Renée Fleming - Queen of Hearts, Our Favorite Soprano (OFS).
What's the best way to celebrate this smart, successful, gracious, amazingly talented lady? Pop in your favorite of our Diva's cds, whip up some of her signature dessert (La Diva Renée - on second thought, better leave that to the professionals!) or, better yet, go somewhere and listen to her sing.

Happy, happy birthday, Renée!

let the games begin!

Top 10 moments/ discoveries from last night's Opening Ceremonies:

1. Shaun White has better hair than me (NO FAIR!)

2. Stupid NBC commentators either have no clue about winter sports or no clue how to talk to female athletes. During one interview with three girl half-pipers, all the interviewer could think to ask them was if they would all still be friends if one beat the others. Really? There's nothing more interesting to ask women snowboarders than if there is going to be a catfight if one wins gold? What do is the best answer to that, anyway? Would the girls say "Yeah, I'd hate that bitch forever if she beat me. I am WAY better than she is?" Of course not. What is the point of a question like that??? They'd never, ever ask a bunch of guys that. Ever.

3. I know how this sounds but - dude. Canada has a Prime Minister? I knew they must, but I've never heard him mentioned. I couldn't tell you his name even now. Also learned a bit of Canadian geography. By the way, doesn't "George Vancouver" sound like something a parent would make up to tell their kids? "Yes, honey, this place was discovered by - uhhhh - George Vancouver!" I didn't know he was real.

4. I love how during the parade of nations, there was a helpful little map to show you where all the countries were - in relation to the US. So they'd say, for instance "Belarus" and in the corner, they'd show a map of the US ("here's us") and then show the location of "Belarus" ("and here's where THAT is in relation to the US.") I know we can be a bunch of dum-dums sometimes (see number 3) but really? They didn't even show where the country was in relation to Vancouver - they showed it in relation to the US. Because, of course, it is all about us.

5. Why weren't the girls carrying the nation signs wearing any pants with their parkas? As a founding member of the Coalition of Wearing Pants, I strongly opposed their outfits.

5.5 Other sartorial standouts were Ireland's bright green pants, Germany, Finland's gross jackets, and our polo pony country club gear. Cable knit sweaters AND down jackets? The ceremony was INDOORS. The Bermuda contingent walked in in red shorts. Also I don't recall what country it was who wore those pants with the crazy colored designs, but they need to be burned. Coalition orders.

6. New version of "We Are the World" was played (shameless filler) - I recognized a few of the people but otherwise - who WERE they all??

7. Much, much better commercials than the Super Bowl

8. Too many previews for "Parenthood" and "The Marriage Ref." Bad taste points for making Alec Baldwin giving ANYONE marriage advice. Also, Ron Howard, you are wrong. There are many many many many things funnier than your show Parenthood. Gross.

9. Lighting of the torch was WAY anticlimactic - it is supposed to be the culmination of the ceremony and instead it got weighed down by a technical glitch AND the fact that hello? The ceremony was INSIDE and the torch has to be OUTSIDE. So they had to send Gretzky off in a car to go light the actual cauldron. Can you imagine if it had gone out and Wayne had to go back in to the BC center, head hanging, going "Anybody gotta light?"

10. Playing the famous game "Hey! I didn't know (fill in the blank) was Canadian!" Some of those for me were: Donald Sutherland, Nelly Furtado, Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan and almost all of the people in the Come to Vancouver commercial (Michael J. Fox, Kim Cattrall (maybe?))

another awesome alternative

Single and fabulous?? Planning a fun day with friends and chocolate because you are not part of a couple? For years, my friends and I have celebrated "Arizona Statehood Day" on February 14th, but last night, my life icon, Liz Lemon, introduced me to yet another reason to celebrate on February 14 - it is the birthdate of Anna Howard Shaw, American Suffragette. Go here to see Liz buying some cookies from Pete's daughter in celebration of Anna!

It is also the birthday of the Queen of Hearts, American Soprano Extraordinary, Renée Fleming!! We could get some cookies in honor of Renée, too.

So this Sunday, celebrate Girl Power, Sisterhood, Renée Fleming, and the Great State of Arizona. They have given us the Grand Canyon, and the Cardinals, and a place for Spring Training, and I am sure many many other things.

i don't usually agree with critics, but....

I told you all that "Valentine's Day" looked like a train wreck, and I was not wrong...

From The New York Times, which calls it "Dire" and "neither romantic nor remotely comedic"

The absence of performers who hold the screen with beauty and the mystery of their personality partly accounts for why “Valentine’s Day” comes across like bad television, specifically an extended (and interwined) episode of “Love, American Style,” the anthology show (1969-74) that paved the way for the ensemble likes of “The Love Boat.” “Valentine’s Day” might have a more recognizable cast than an average episode of “Love, American Style,” but it’s grim grim grim. This might not be the Titanic of romantic comedies (it’s tugboat size), but it’s a disaster: cynically made, barely directed, terribly written. But quick: there’s still time to escape!

From Roger Ebert:
The form of the movie may remind you wistfully of a much better one, "Love, Actually," which created characters we cared a great deal about. None of the characters here ever get beyond the "Look --There's (Name of Star)" Threshold. You know, when your mind says, Look -- there's Patrick Dempsey! Look -- there's Anne Hathaway! Look -- there's Topher Grace! Wow -- that's Jessica Biel!

"Valentine's Day" is being marketed as a Date Movie. I think it's more of a First-Date Movie. If your date likes it, do not date that person again. And if you like it, there may not be a second date.


I think that my problem with this movie (only by watching the preview, because I have not and will not be spending money on this) is simply that there are too many people in it, as Roger states above. What can you possibly do in two hours to connect all these people in any meaningful way? I know that plot and character development are not a necessity in a romantic comedy, that it's not Serious Cinema and no one will probably be getting nominated for an Oscar, but COME ON. There are so many films that do wonderful things with a small and not even hugely famous casts and that are incredibly funny and romantic. I don't know. Maybe you can't listen to me about Valentine's Day related anything, since I am going to see American Buffalo that day and not any kind of fluffy happy romantic movie...

snowmaggedon - it's coming...

a field trip - on the other side

A few weeks ago, I got an email from Heidi, suggesting that I play hooky from work and come chaperone a field trip with her for a slew of high school students. I was shocked (shocked!) that she suggest such a thing... but then I thought, what the hell? I tend to hoard my PTO days, thinking I will need them for some greater purpose. Then by the time June rolls around, I have a million days that I have to use or lose by the end of the month (we can't carry them over). I have plenty of days, and we are about to kick into high gear for opening next week anyway, so I figured a day off would be nice. So I agreed to join her and some other Niles North teachers at the Field Museum with the AP Biology kids.

Today was the day. I remember going on field trips when I was a kid. We'd sing (loudly) those old chestnuts like "WHO stole the cookie from the cookie jar." Our chaperones yelled at us to be quiet and in some cases to "listen for sirens." I have no idea why. That's just what he said. These kids, juniors and seniors were so quiet I thought they were all asleep. We visited the Evolving Earth exhibit and the kids had a packet to complete. Honestly, I think that's the only way people actually read all the stuff in those exhibits. I usually wander through, read the highlights, admire the fossils or whatever and off I go. I learned a lot today, actually - I was looking at the packet, wondering what they had to complete. I took 3 years of science, and none of them included AP biology. The last time I had biology was sophomore year. A LONG time ago. So thank goodness they didn't ask ME anything. All we had to do was, you know, watch them. The museum has a rule that there has to be one chaperone for every 10 kids. There were six chaperones in our group, for about 60 students. They were good kids on the whole - we herded them downstairs to McDonald's for lunch, herded them back upstairs and only lost 3 in our count at the buses. Don't worry! We found them! All of the kids had their phones, of course, and they went to work calling the missing ones and they magically appeared at the buses.

All in all, it was an interesting experience.

ooh la la!

Pictures of my divine crepe lunch from Via Gelato before the movie today. I picked the amarena cherry, kind of a sour cherry, but I followed every mouthful of cherry with a spoonful of the whipped cream and all was well. To avoid sitting around and staring into space for a really long time (like I did pre-Young Victoria), I brought along Have His Carcase. The masterminds at Via Gelato also do a crepe with Nutella and fresh fruit... maybe next time. It would be a wonderful thing to sit with a book and a crepe and read the afternoon away. I don't know if they would like that too much at Via Gelato though....

an education

I took myself off to see "An Education" this afternoon - back to the Glen for a quick lunch (an amarena cherry crepe from Via Gelato) and this time, to avoid ridiculous early-ness like last week, I brought Lord Peter and Harriet along for company. I still ended up sitting in the theater watching the sneak peek thing that they put before the previews. Another group of noisy old people (possibly the same group as last week, who knows?) barged in just as the movie was starting, clamored up the stairs, complained (loudly) that they couldn't see the seats in the dark, and stood directly behind me, grumbling and rattling. If you had maybe come about 10 minutes earlier, the lights would have been ON and you could have seen where you were going, okay? Enough about them. On to the film.

It is another one that lived sort of in the back of my consciousness - I'd heard of it, that it was a younger girl meets older guy kind of thing, and then put it out of my head. Then I'd heard that the screenplay had been written by Nick Hornby and had been nominated for an Academy Award. I had just finished reading Hornby's novel, Juliet, Naked (read it, no, devoured it, in one day) and so I figured that "An Education" was worth looking in to. There are going to be some spoilers below, I'm afraid, so if you don't want to know, stop reading here. But go, go, go see this movie. I'm telling you.

It is post-WWII England - I want to say 1961, but it might have been 1951, I don't remember exactly. A 16 year old girl, Jenny, is attending school and preparing for her A-levels. She is under much pressure from her strict parents to do well at school so that she can go to Oxford and read English. She does her homework, plays cello in a youth orchestra (as her special interest) and all that stuff, like a dutiful daughter. But she really wants to go off and be French - wear black, listen to jazz and groovy French music, speak French (she drops it casually into conversation whenever she can - tres chic!). Then one day, walking home in the rain from a youth orchestra rehearsal, she meets David. He's in a car and rolls down the window to call to her. He offers to drive her cello home (understanding, of course, that it would be very funny indeed for her to accept a ride from a total stranger, and an older man, on top of that) while she walks alongside the car. Well, you see how that would work out, so eventually she gets into the car.

She begins a relationship with David - he represents everything that is the complete opposite from her world - beauty and fun and excitement. Music, fancy restaurants, good food. She is charmed and besotted - and surprisingly, so are her parents. He talks them into letting him take her to Oxford (to visit his "english professor" Clive S. Lewis. No, they didn't punt.) and even to celebrate her birthday in Paris. What girl could say no to that?? She begins to question her education - if going to school (and eventually University) is "hard and boring" why ever would a girl choose that when she could have all of the things that are thrilling and exciting and fun?? Why indeed?? Anyway, Jenny and David are happy, happy, happy and he proposes, she accepts, leaves school (much to the distress of her stern headmisteress) and then.... well, I'm not going to totally give it all away. There's a bit of a twist and then something happens. If you want to know, go and see it. If you go to the Glen to do so, stop by and have a crepe first.

The cast is wonderful - especially Jenny, played by Carey Mulligan and David (Peter Sarsgaard) and there was a little cameo from Emma Thompson (as the headmistress). There was humor, there was drama (I cried. No surprise there.)

So here's Best Picture Nominee #2. I guess it's on, Academy.

up in the air

I know, I know. I am WAY behind in my movie viewing. This is another one I've wanted to see for a long long time and it was not until today, when I had a free morning, that I was finally able to do it. And it was well worth the wait. Oh, that George Clooney. He's always been kind of lurking around in the back of my mind - undeniably a good looking man, very smooth, our generation's answer to Cary Grant, perhaps? But oh, oh, he was great. I am a George fan now (and what have I been doing while he's been making movies??)

The Oscar race is on again, and this is the first of the best picture nominees I've seen. Tomorrow, I'm thinking of getting An Education before rooting my Colts on to Super Bowl victory. Then, who knows? Now that they have increased the nominees to number 10, it makes it even more impossible for a person to try and see all of them (although naturally, I suppose if I was really that good, I'd have been seeing them all along). It's usually the case though, that there are films I'm just not that interested in - like Avatar (ugh) or District 9 (double ugh) or the Hurt Locker (which I had not even heard of until last week).

Oh dear...

Listen up, politicos: this is the last time I vote for any of you based on the memorabilty of your tv ads!!!

Cohen: 'I will not resign' :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: News

valentine's advice... from Martha Stewart

I've gotten hooked on Dove's dark chocolate promise hearts - there is a bag of them in my snack drawer at the office (very very very very dangerous). Anyway, these particular hearts have Martha Stewart advice in the little foil wrapper, tips for a happy and creative Valentine's Day (it's a good thing!). Anyway, most of the advice in the wrapper is just kind of whatever - like, I had one that advised me to keep valentine chocolates in a cool place so they'd keep longer, or to wrap a chocolate bar in a doily and tie it with ribbon, or arrange bud vases in the shape of a heart. Yesterday, I was sitting at my desk, eating some chocolate hearts and got this message:

"Swirl in raspberry jam to make a perfect valentine cheesecake"
This one confused me a little bit. Swirl raspberry jam into what, exactly? Am I making this cheesecake? Won't I need a little more guidance than that, in this case? If I'm buying the cheesecake, where do I swirl in this jam? And if I'm buying the cheesecake in any case, can't I just buy a flavored one?

Then I ate another chocolate (what? it was a stressful day and sometimes these little hearts are the only things that keep me going) and this one said:

"Acknowledge Cupid on V-day with toast cut into hearts and arrows"
Just don't put any raspberry jam on the arrows, because then you'd be giving off a whole other message.
Heh.

you! cake or....

I had a dream last night where the girls and I were at an Eddie Izzard show. For some reason, the house was practically empty and we kept moving down so we could get better seats. During a bit, Eddie came up to me, put his thumb on my forehead and tried to read my mind. Then he did it to Heidi too, and he tried to get us both to read each other's minds... I don't know what on earth that means.

Speaking of Eddie, though, I ran across this article in (where else?) Time Out New York. My free subscription runs out sometime next month I think, and I will miss it bunches and bunches.

The prolific absurdist Eddie Izzard is accustomed to breaking new ground. On Saturday 16­—hot on the heels of running 43 marathons in 51 days (to benefit the charity Sport Relief) and the premiere on both sides of the pond of the new documentary Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story—he becomes the first British comic to play the arena at Madison Square Garden.

You ran 43 marathons in 51 days?!?
The first three weeks were hell. It was chafing my feet, they were all blistered up and the pain was very intense, but then the weirdest thing was that my feet started healing as I was running. They actually become really hard. Then it’s just endurance and stamina.

What sort of frame of mind does it take to keep going?
You can’t entertain the idea that you can stop at any point, apart from serious injury. Having a TV crew there also helped because it would be very embarrassing after ten days to say, “Well, I can’t do this. I’m sorry, everyone. Pack up and go home.”

You’re used to cameras; were you pleased with Believe?
There’s a thing where certain people will go, “That guy’s a transvestite; I’m not going to go watch his stuff,” and it will get blocked off to that audience. So I thought a documentary could explain things more, dig around and show the stuff going on in my head, who I am and where I come from.

Was watching yourself through other people’s eyes cathartic?
That bit at the end where it explains what seems to be my motivation—that it’s my mother? That came as a shock to me, because I didn’t realize it. It was good to say that and get that out there and know that myself.

You mentioned the transvestism. I saw you get heckled in Vegas at the Comedy Festival.
Right; they were asking, “Why aren’t you wearing a dress?,” which is slightly different. You expect a lot of, “I hear you’re a transvestite. I don’t like that.” But I tend to get, these days, “Why aren’t you wearing a dress?” So I do try and explain that I will go in boy mode and girl mode, and at the moment I’ve been in boy mode. You want to have the freedom that women have of being able to wear whatever they want whenever they want.

team USA

I found a website this week showing off Team USA's official Olympic gear, designed by Ralph Lauren. Here's a peek at what they will be wearing in the Opening Ceremonies next week:

What do we think of this??? Anybody? I don't know. It's cute, I guess. But - white pants after Labor Day? No, just kidding. RL's large polo pony logo is a little odd - I know it's his logo but it is also the WINTER Olympics, yes? No polo happening unless there's like a new X-Game sport called snow polo or something like that. I think this country club look would be better suited to the summer games in London in 2012. White pants and all.

"I'm just off for a spot of curling, what?"

Nothing beats the adorable Roots beret worn during the 2002 Salt Lake City games. I still have mine and wear it all the time. People stop me on the street/train and ask me about it. And only sometimes do I pretend that I was on the US Women's luge/curling/bobsleigh team.

If you love all this RL gear, it is available for purchase, naturally, so that if you really want one of those hats or maybe that sweater, it can be yours!

some Victoria questions - answered!

Ah, the wisdom of Wiki! Right after I blogged my early confusion in The Young Victoria, I found most of the answers sought in Queen V's own Wikipedia page. Amazing, isn't it?

Things I Learned from WIKI...

"The young Princess Victoria was the only legitimate child of the fourth son of George III, the Duke of Kent, who died in 1820. As such, she became heiress presumptive after the death of George IV in 1830.The law at the time made no special provision for a child monarch. Therefore, a Regent needed to be appointed if Victoria were to succeed to the throne before the age of eighteen. Parliament passed the Regency Act 1830, which provided that Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent, would act as Regent during the Queen's minority, if she acceded to the throne while still a minor. Parliament did not create a council to limit the powers of the Regent. King William disliked the Duchess and, on at least one occasion, stated that he wanted to live until Victoria's 18th birthday, so that a regency could be avoided..."

"Victoria later described her childhood as "rather melancholy." Victoria's mother was extremely protective of the princess, who was raised in near isolation under the so called "Kensington System", an elaborate set of rules and protocols devised by The Duchess and her comptroller and supposed lover, Sir John Conroy, to prevent the princess from ever meeting people whom they deemed undesirable, and to render her weak and utterly dependent upon them. She was not allowed to interact with other children. Her main companion was her King Charles spaniel, Dash, and she was required to share a bedroom with her mother every night until she became queen.As a teenager, Victoria resisted their threats and rejected their attempts to make Conroy her personal secretary. Once queen, she immediately banned Conroy from her quarters (though she could not remove him from her mother's household) and consigned her mother to a distant corner of the palace, often refusing to see her."

Other things that became clear:
Our Lord Paul Bettany was really Whig Prime Minister Lord Melbourne
Albert & Victoria's first child, mentioned in the film, was a girl also named Victoria.

I still don't get all that stuff about the formation of governments and all that, so that will require some further research...

Monarch of "The Glen"

So "The Glen" is the posh shopping center they've built on the Great Lakes Naval Air Station land in Glenview. I was there yesterday, seeing The Young Victoria. As is my habit, I got there entirely too early. I didn't think it would be a problem since the Glen is chockablock with stores and stuff like that and I love to shop.

Let me tell you - it was a disappointment. All the best stores have closed - the Ann Taylor Loft is gone, the bookstore is gone, the Artisan Shop is gone (that must have happened recently, I bought something there in November). I spent a little time in Ulta, but even I can't kill more than 20 minutes looking at cosmetics. I went to Von Maur and watched the tumbleweeds blow down the aisles of overpriced merchandise. I wandered up to their plush ladies' lounge - which had one of those wall mounted buckets to deposit used hypodermic needles. Why? Why would you need one of those in a ladies' lounge? I kind of thought it might be for insulin injections or something, but I have never seen one of those in a department store before.

I even went to Dick's Sporting Goods store (gasp! horrors!) and looked at mountains of (expensive) sports gear and equipment. And over priced exercise clothing. There was a cute yoga outfit and the pants alone were $40 (on sale). Doesn't it go against the zen of yoga to go kitting yourself out in really expensive gear? Isn't the point of yoga to achieve inner peace and whatever? Do you really need coordinating seperates to do it?

I went to lunch at Via Gelato, but I couldn't spin a solitary meal of panini and bottle of water into longer than half an hour either. There were lots of other chi-chi stores, a kids clothing store called "Justice" (huh??) and finally, I wandered around in Claire's just for something to do. There were several north shore kids in there, gushing how "adorable" everything was (I have a feeling they just learned that word). Back out into the cold and over to the theater. I was about 20 minutes early for the show, but there was honestly nothing else to do. Everything else in the Glen is a restaurant.

So what's the remedy (or, like, my POINT?)? I suggest a bookstore in the Glen - stat. Or, entirely for my own purposes, a store that I could spend loads of time in, dithering around in the fitting room. Or, well, I suppose I could just stop being so gosh darned early to things (but then, who would I be?)

more on Emily Blunt

Emily Blunt in Time Out New York's "Hot Seat"

Let’s see—whom do we hate more? Emily Blunt, who is rocking a career that puts her onscreen next to Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Bill Nighy, and is engaged to The Office’s John “Jim Halpert” Krasinski? Or England’s Queen Victoria, who inherited an empire at age 18, lived in a palace and, according to Blunt’s portrayal in The Young Victoria, had a delicious shag in husband Prince Albert (Rupert Friend)? Frankly, we’re horribly jealous of both of them. At least Blunt had the good grace to invite us into her wedding party (“We don’t know when it is, but come along. Maid of honor, you can be it!”) and entertain us with tales of Her Majesty’s randy proclivities. Now that’s some solid English breeding.

Do Americans have a different view of Queen Victoria than the Brits?
I don’t even know how expansive our knowledge of her is. I knew that she had lots of kids, and I knew that she was widowed very young. I had the image of her as the old lady in black with the hankie on her head looking really miserable.

So when they offered you the part…
I was like, Really, guys? Really? Overweight old lady. Nothing screams “Emily Blunt” like Queen Victoria! But I started reading about her when she was younger, and it was sort of the polar opposite. She was so vivacious and had such a zealous approach to life. She was kind of rebellious.

And you get to have steamy sex scenes with Prince Albert.
Yeah, I think the repressed image we have of her comes from when she’d been widowed, but she happily had, and I quote, “fun in bed.” In her diaries she was very highly sexed, it seems. She probably exhausted poor Albert.

So did you worry about audiences nitpicking the facts?
I didn’t worry about it. It was probably naive of me to think that because everyone has an opinion. Certainly everyone in England is a fucking historian. I’ve done some Q&As where people have said, “Well, the reason that Victoria had so many children was because typhoid was very prevalent in that time,” and I’m like, “Or, she loved sex! Either one!” If you want to do a fact-off with me, we can go right now.

You’ve played a princess, a queen, a fashionista in The Devil Wears Prada, and are now filming a movie in which you play a ballerina.
A really girly run I’ve got going on right now.

Are you going through all of Barbie’s careers?
Exactly! I have all the different outfits. I think next I’m gonna be on, like, a volleyball team. I’m gonna aim for, like, a surfer girl.

How are you going to look as a blond?
Oh my God. It was a sad sight when I was in my teenage years. I did dye it a kind of slightly orange-tinted blond.

You’ve worked with some real acting greats: Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, Meryl Streep. Can you do an impression of any of them?
I can do Benicio [Del Toro]. He’d be like, “You know what? You gotta walk in here and be like… And I was like… I don’t know. She was like, maybe buuuut, you know? Let me tell you…what was going on.” I literally couldn’t understanding what he was saying. It was great.

If people did impressions of you, what would they say?
They’d use classically British phrases. When my American friends impersonate me, they talk a bit like, “Look a’ the state of ’er! Look a’ the state of that!” Shit like that.

Why is it that Brits always sound classier than we Americans?
It must be that we’re related to Shakespeare in some way, so we’ve got to swank it up. We’ve had so many kings and queens; there’s got to be some way that I’m related to one of them.

What definition of the word blunt best describes you? “Abrupt,” “not sharp,” or “cigar filled with marijuana”?
[Laughs] Or someone who smokes pot. It’s so weird because when I do an interview, they usually do some play on blunt. I think I’ve heard every single one. “Emily Blunt: Sharp tool.” “To be blunt,” “Bluntly speaking.” I’ll go with number one. I don’t think I’ll broadcast the fact that I’m a pot smoker. Not true!

The Young Victoria

I had wanted to see this movie after I'd read a few interviews with Emily Blunt - it was only at Evanston for a while, and then when I looked again at their listings it was GONE and I cursed my own laziness for not going to Evanston sooner. Then, however, I noticed that it had gone into (slightly) wider release and was playing at the Glen, which is not nearly as much of a pain in the ass to get to as Evanston is. Anyway. I took myself to see the film yesterday afternoon and enjoyed it very much - despite the gaggle of geezers sitting behind me. I was in about the 4th row in the theater and had to climb some steps to get there. For some reason, the leader of this geezer pack decided to bring his posse (one of whom was on crutches or a cane or something) up the stairs. It was slow going, it was dark, the previews were starting, and when he tried to guide the poor little lady, she exclaimed "Don't pull on me! I'll slip and fall and that will be the end of me!" Naturally, oh yes, they sat behind me, and made little exclamations throughout the film. The gentleman would typically murmur "MMMHMMM" at various plot points and they'd sometimes ask each other what had just happened (don't know why, really, since they were probably around during Queen Victoria's coronation!)

Whatever. The film was beautiful and concentrated on - you may have guessed - Queen Victoria, when she was, you know, young. Some of the stuff at the beginning was a little hard for me to follow - all that stuff about a Regency and why she was holed up in the castle she lived in (up to HERE with f**ing castles!!) and why she needed people to hold her hand and stuff. I had to turn the history geek within off for a while (I fed her some cookies) - the film essentially told me all I needed to know, but naturally, I can't help wondering. I also wondered stuff like who her firstborn was, and what would have happened if she had gotten killed in the assassination attempt - who would have taken over then? Albert? Leopold? And I always wonder a little about the Parliamentary system. I was in a British history class once in college and the book would say things like "the government dissolved" or something and I was always like "Oh no!" but it never explained what that meant. So when Lord Paul Bettany (don't remember the character's name - Lord M?) lost the Prime Ministership to that other guy (Sir Robert?) but then Sir Bob said that he couldn't form a government when the Queen had no confidence in him - what happened? The other party gets back into power? They choose a new leader? Such things are fascinating to me.

The cast was outstanding - Emily Blunt was fantastico as Victoria and Rupert Friend was dashing and divine as Albert. I liked seeing their love story unfolding. I wonder if there's going to be a film "Victoria" now, like there was "Elizabeth" and "Elizabeth II" or whatever that second one was called. Anyway. Now I have an urge to see "Mrs. Brown" again....