Thursday, April 30, 2009

Go! Now!
The digital album will be available on May 12, hold it in your hands on June 2! Sqweee!
Oh btw, it's Opening Night tonight at the Marquis Theatre for 9 to 5! If you're in NYC, amble on over an pick up a ticket if you can! I'm going next week, but hope to be a voyeur and watch the festivities on EarthCam.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Wowee Wednesday

Bea Arthur

I couldn't resist paying one last tribute to this incredible woman. So many times, shows and events she has made millions say "wow" and I just had to return the favor. Smile and enjoy.



Maude TV Opening Theme - video powered by Metacafe

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

What kind of commentary do you think it is when my neighbor pretty much ignores me but flags down virtual strangers in the street to make googly sounds over their ugly yapping dog?
hmmm. Things just haven't been the same since we had that Obama-McCain smackdown war of yard signs last November. And when I say "smackdown", I mean "you lost"
So is Fox still running with this whole "fair and balanced" schtick? You can hardly argue anything but the opposite now that this story has broken.

Let's just put the shoe on the other foot, mkay? Had MSNBC, or CBS even, decided to turn down the freakin' President of the United States for air time just because they were sick of pre-empting life-changing shows like "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?" or "Don't Forget the Lyrics!", we would have heard about it for weeks to come a la Rush and Bill.

Gotta hand it to Fox for staying true to their belief of feeding the masses all the bullshit they can digest. Apparently, when there is a lack of crap to shovel you just take your ball and go home.
*note: I realize that they also chose not to run one of Bush's speeches in November of 2001. I'm sure he didn't have anything important to say two months after 9/11 either. "American Idol" or an update on the biggest national tragedy of the decade? what to do, what to do...

Monday, April 27, 2009

Broadway Monday

Liza's at the Palace....!
Originally slated for a short closed run from December 3-14, 2008 this incredible show had to be extended due to the high demand and almost immediately sold out dates. Closing date occurred on January 4, 2009 and included Christmas Eve.
Liza danced, strutted, pranced and jazz-hands her way through two sets which included old favorites for which she is best known. The entire second set was devoted to Kay Thompson, who arranged all the music for MGM in the 1940's and happened to be Liza's godmother.
Ups, downs, drama, tragedy, hip replacements, husbands, Oscars, Emmys, sold out venues...she's still here...by the way, she's 63!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

RIP Bea Arthur

So, so sad so hear of Bea Arthur's passing yesterday. Although she was absent from the spotlight for the last few years, for me it always comforting to know she was still around.
My first memory of Bea was the episode of "All in the Family" when Maude, Edith's cousin, arrives to help the family. It was the episode that created the turning point in television. That cameo led to one of my favorite sitcoms, "Maude". (It's no surprise my scooter was born to be known as Maude.)
There was just something about Maude, for me, that resonated and rang true.
Strong. Outspoken. Forceful. Funny. Tall. At 42, I finally get it.

The stage, screen and landscape will be bare without you.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Barack, I am your father! Eeew! That's not even funny.

I think it's odd and quite calculated that Dick Cheney has reared his ugly head all this week in attempts to guide/dictate and influence our national conversation on torture. Okay so maybe it's not so odd that he is going about this in this manner. He is the definition of calculated, and cold, and evil, and the devil, and Darth Vader.

Never in the eight sad, lonely, dark years of the Bush Administration did we hear so much from Cheney. Now, when the stakes are the highest for him personally, we can't shut him up! He's everywhere weighing in on and attempting to rewrite the history and most importantly our opinion on torture. Great HuffPo article here.

Here's hoping Barack is strong enough to stay on course and not be swayed by the obvious and transparent attempts of a failed leader to protect his legacy.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Wowee Wednesday

Robin Wright Penn
It's hard to find pictures of this week's Wowee that aren't paparazzi style or adorned with her husband, Sean Penn. Nothing against Sean, but honestly when I see him I immediately look for Robin. What can I say? Another smart, aloof, hot blonde.
Many looks, many styles, all beautiful, but she'll always be Princess Buttercup to me!

Well great! Now I've got to go watch "The Princess Bride" for the too-embarassingly-high-to-revealth time.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

blame it on the gays

So now I guess we gays are responsible for Carrie Prejean not winning the Miss America title last night. Wow, we are awesomely powerful! First 9/11, then Katrina, now this! I can totally see why America is so scared of us and try at every turn to keep us down. I'd be scared of us too. We are freakin' awesome! BTW, Miss Prejean, if you are so happy with your answer to the question, and feel like "the winner" because you stood on principle, why did you run to Fox News so fast? Happiness with your answer doesn't beg the need to plead your case on the "news" network that butters their bread bashing and demonizing homosexuals. You don't think your losing had anything to do with the fact that your answer may have been real, but other parts of you clearly are not, do you?

Monday, April 20, 2009

Broadway Monday

Joe Turner's Come and Gone
The great migration of African-Americans from the farms of the South to the cities of the North is captured in this drama of folks passing through a Pittsburgh boarding house in 1911. One of them is on a special quest, to find a mystical "Shining Man." When a threatening stranger arrives, he suspects his quest may be at an end.
Harold Loomis has just finished serving seven years of hard labor and has journeyed north to Pittsburgh. Young daughter in tow, Harold arrives at the boarding house filled with characters ready to aid, or hinder, his search for inner freedom.
This revival, set 1911, this is the second play in August Wilson's towering 10-part, decade-by-decade account of African-American lives in Pittsburgh.
Joe Turner's Come and Gone opened at the beautiful Belasco Theatre on April 16, 2009 and will enjoy a closed run ending June 14, 2009.

Friday, April 17, 2009

How proud am I of my BFF?
We always joke with Steph that she is like our little sister and how proud we are of her success. The more I think about it, she is just like the little sister I have sans the mental instability, rehab, unending drama, multiple engagements, and two divorces.
Yep just like that.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Wowee Wednesday

Annie Lennox

Think back to the first time you saw Annie Lennox...If you are anything like me, you were excited, engaged, awestruck and giggly. My first image of Annie was most likely the same as yours. Something like this, right?:
I remember thinking "Wow. This is cool. She is wearing a tie, carrying a crop, and taking charge. I think I like her. No, I definitely like her. Orange hair! My mom will freak out. Great song. MTV is totally my favorite channel on the satellite dish..."
Thank goodness Annie outlasted our expectations of MTV, and emerged as one of the great voices of our time. It takes a talented, insightful artist to see past initial fame and truly make a career worth the accolades that are regularly heaped on Annie Lennox.
Singer, songwriter, humanitarian, trendsetter, and constant musical companion in my collection. What memories do you have of the beautiful Ms. Lennox?

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

who you callin' skinny?!

You may have noticed a new sidebar list regarding the books I have read recently. I'm trying hard to read more although my video game activity is making it nearly impossible. I mean, how is information on food or enlightenment supposed to compete with a house full of brain eating zombies that may at any minute take over the world! I've got to have priorities people. Check out my "What I'm Playing" sidebar to keep up with my latest game obsession.

By far my favorite book I have read so far this year is "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman & Kim Barnouin. The title is obviously meant to grab the consumer's attention (read: diet obsessed women) and it does, but the best part of the book for me has little to do with the "skinny" slant.


This book is brimming, nay, overflowing with great information regarding one's food choices and how those food choices affect the body and the world around us. That feature alone would make this book interesting once picked up, but we all know that no one wants to be told that potato chips are bad for you. We know it. We eat them anyway. Another book wagging it's finger at you will go virtually nowhere as you shove your hand down in the bag for another handful. Rory and Kim smartly found the way to keep you engaged even when they tell you not to eat chips, drink cow's milk, drink coffee, eat meat or fish,...you get the idea.

I definitely recommend this quick, informative read because it guides you and informs you at the same time. I think that is the key. Tell me why ______ is bad for me and the world around me. Teach a man to fish, people. Teach a man to fish.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Broadway Monday

Grey Gardens GreyGardens is a musical, based on the 1975 documentary of the same title about the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale ("Big Edie") and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale ("Little Edie") by Albert and David Maysles.
The Beales were Jacqueline Kennedy's aunt and cousin, respectively. Set at Grey Gardens, the Bouviers' mansion in East Hampton, New York, the musical tracks the progression of their lives from their original status as rich and socially polished aristocrats to their eventual largely isolated existence in a home overridden by cats and cited for repeated health code violations. However, its more central purpose is to untangle the complicated dynamics of their dysfunctional mother/daughter relationship.

I posted about my obsession with this documentary a few months ago and I'd like to say it has subsided, but thanks to an HBO movie premiering Saturday, April 18th it has been revived and along with it, my love for the Broadway musical.

Every time I listen to the cast recording, watch my bootleg copy (shhh) or clips on YouTube, I am amazed at how this show brought to life the lives of these incredible women and their equally incredible, sad story. Actually, I should say the incredibly sad story of a mother's control over her child which results in mental instability and hermitic behavior.
Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson, both nominated for Tony Awards, stunningly transform themselves into this dysfunctional mother/daughter duo and as an audience member, you become a fly on the wall watching their lives unfold.
Equally as magnificent is the soundtrack written for this show with music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie. Once you familiarize yourself with the story, the beauty, irony, and heartbreaking accuracy of the lyrics and music are simply astounding. The song playing on the sidebar, "Around the World" pretty much tells the story from Little Edie's eyes highlighting the juxtaposition of sweet reminiscing and furious frustration over her life, void of choice and freedom. Grey Gardens premiered on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on November 2, 2006 and ran for 307 performances, closing on July 29, 2007. Tony nominations came flooding in at a total of 10 with wins for Ebersole and Wilson as Lead Actress and Featured Actress respectively as well as Best Costume Design in a Musical. Christine Ebersole played both Big Edie in her younger days during Act One, and Little Edie in her late 50's during Act Two. Does that count for two Tony's?
Take a look at the real Little Edie vs. the Broadway Little Edie. Brilliant.







Ugh, I could just go on and on, honestly.

Friday, April 10, 2009

@nomtweets Suck It!


Check out this ridiculous new campaign that is,... well...ridiculous. These poor heteros are just being attacked from all sides by loving same-sex couples with great fashion sense and awesome organizational skills. Poor things.

BTW, if you have a Twitter account, try working in @nomtweets Suck It! every chance you get! It'll make you feel all tingly inside!

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Wowee Wednesday

Senator Mike Gronstal

It will require progressive, smart, confident leaders to continue to make lasting changes to America until all are treated equally under the law.
Without the support of Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, efforts to amend the Iowa Constitution can not move forward in the Senate.
Below is Senator Gronstal's response to Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley on April 6, 2009, the first day the Senate met after the unanimous decision by the Iowa Supreme Court to allow same sex couples to marry.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Keeping pace with their history of reporting a load of crap,
Fox News boasts this lovely headline today on a "story" that
grabs the headline, but consists of just five sentences:


I think my favorite part of this layout is the tag line "Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:" Yes, that is exactly what I would call this drivel. Fresh. New. Steaming even.

Monday, April 06, 2009

Broadway Monday

Blithe Spirit Novelist Charles Condomine, living with his second wife, Ruth, invites a local medium, Madame Arcati, to his house. His intention is to do some research into the spirit world for his new book. But he gets more than he bargained for when Arcati conjures up the ghost of Charles' first wife, Elvira. Caught between one live wife and one dead wife — both jealous of the other — Charles thinks matters couldn't be worse. Blithe Spirit is playwright Noel Coward's best known work and he definitely reworked the effort to make the most of it's life on various stages. The work has been seen onstage, television and the silver screen.
The original stage production appeared on the West End stage in 1941 for 1,997 performances. The Broadway premier also occurred in 1941 and played for 657 performances at the Booth Theatre. There have been many revivals in both London and New York since the 1940's including the current production which opened March 15, 2009 at the starring Angela Lansbury, Christine Ebersole, Rupert Everet, and Jayne Atkinson at the Shubert Theatre.