I went to Vegas and fell in love

I know, huh? And at my age too.  Its embarrassing but you know when it happens, it happens.  I wasn’t expecting to become so utterly infatuated, so completely devoted.  And its the type of teeny-bopper love that makes you want to stop total strangers on the street and let them know how you feel.  I am now back home and still feeling the same way – apparently what happens in Vegas does not always stay in Vegas.

I know its wrong but I am completely and totally in love with my iPhone.  Yes, me who shunned cellphones up until a couple of years ago when for traveling reasons I grudgingly purchased a pay-as-you-go minimalist phone from VirginMobile.  Half the time the battery was uncharged and weeks would go by before I would use the phone.  It served its purpose.  But then one day, for many years of service, I was gifted by my employers with a rather handsome gift certificate to the Apple store.  After thinking about it for six months or so and researching all my options, I dropped in on the 21st century to see if I could tolerate it.  Well,  my, my, my how pleasant the future is.

I took my iPhone on its maiden voyage – my brother and I were escorting out of town relatives (way out of town from Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay out of town) to Vegas.  I used the phone to coordinate and keep constantly informed of where in the casinos my brother (with the octogenarians) was while I (and the underaged one) saw the sites and non-gambling, non-drinking attractions.  I used the my iPhone to take quick pictures, check the weather, verify the time in South America, as an alarm clock, to check my e-mails and let my poor cousin going through internet-withdrawal check hers and surf.  We had forgotten to bring the Southwest info for check-in for our returning flight – I just brought it all up on my new bestest friend.   And the coup de grace, that just sealed the deal on my love was when while walking back to the Luxor, we arrived in front of the Bellagio, video camera in hand,  hoping to see the dancing waters.  We had no clue what the schedule was so I googled it on the iPhone and voila, we knew the next show started in about 15 minutes.  Many, many is the time in the past that while traveling that I wished I had instant access to the internet – it makes life so much easier.  I know the iPhone is not the only phone you can do this with, but it is the coolest phone you can do it with.  It looks good, works great and its easy to navigate and I’ve not even started using the iPod feature or purchasing apps for it…. sigh … my love just grows.   I know this is old hat to most but to me who remembers looking for a pay phone so I could call someone to go to my house to check the flight information that I had left on the front of my fridge door – its magic!  

P.S.:  I just recently started wearing hearing aids and I was worried about not being able to hear properly with the new fangled contraption.  No worries there either – I can hear just fine.  The speakerphone is not quite as loud as I would like but really I don’t need to use it much.  The ringtone could also be a bit louder but since the phone is never more than 3 feet away from me (I even use it as an alarm clock) that issue is also moot.  My other concern was going back to AT&T – so far, they are behaving themselves – except for the $11.00 worth of taxes and fees they tack on to the bill and didn’t mention when I signed the plan – I have the cheapest plan s0 $11.00 makes a difference to me but at this point I’m hooked on the phone.   Oh, and the camera, not the best but I’m not looking for the best out of it – just the luxory of having immediate access to a camera in case the Mother Ship should make an appearance.

Eels End Times?

This is the new intro page to the Eels web page:

Apparently “end times” will arrive on January 19, 2010.  There is speculation as to what it all means (check out speculation at Estranged Friends forum if you’re interested).  I personally think that’s the date the beard gets it (and not a moment too soon I might add)!  To back my theory, here is a link to Spinner.com story wherein E supposedly sent in this:  10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Eels singer’s Beard which appeared about the same time the “End Times” front page did.  Case closed.  Frankly, I miss E’s face …. 

Now I know why…

I love Trader Joe’s.  No seriously, I do.  When I “discovered” TJ’s many, many years ago, I was in pig-heaven.  I was like a newly converted Christian spreading the word right and left to anyone who would listen.  They had vegetarian stuff, they had foods from around the world (garlic hummus next to the tzatziki next to the sushi rolls next to the… well you get the idea) and it was cheap (relatively speaking).  And they had inexpensive wine!  And in the last few years – good, low-priced wine from Argentina (Malbec – Oy! do yourself a favor and try the Argentine Malbec – its cheapest at TJ’s but you can get it anywhere these days – Norton’s is the most widely available).  I buy Argentine wine to help my family down there - I figure I’m helping the Argentine economy with every bottle of wine I drink!  I’m sure somewhere in Mendoza there’s a little vintner sending me muchas gracias as he sends his kids to college thanks to me!

 Anyway, I digress… I found an article about a talk presented by the founder of Trader Joe’s, Joe Coloumbe, and he states how he came up with the TJ’s marketing approach:

Over time, he realized that his stores especially appealed to the over-educated and underpaid, notably teachers, classical musicians, museum curators and journalists

Click on the quote to go to the article.  Its quite interesting.  He talks about everything from how Trader Joe’s started to the historical reasons northern Europeans are not wine drinkers to the world economics of wine production and how Argentina is on its way up the wine ladder.  Hmm, all this talking about wine has made me rather thirsty… I just happen to have a lovely $4.00 bottle of  La Finca Malbec in fridge (its good, not great – if you want great try Layer Cake Malbec - a lot pricier but really, really, really good) … must go now… tah…..

And call off Christmas

This is from the Half Blood Prince – now really, is it me or does this look like it could be the Sheriff of Nottingham off to take someone’s heart out with a spoon?  (The image came from here: torenheksje)

Wait for it….

I never did get around to writing about my trip to New York.  I’ll start by reviewing or more acurately, I guess it could be described as gushing, about the play I went to the big city to see – “Waiting for Godot.”  Click to go to the Roundabout site – the play is closed but they still have videos and interviews so you can get a sense of the play, performers and production.

I remember having read this play in college and seeing student performances of the piece.  I remember thinking, oh my lord, what a grey and depressing piece. It did move me for what I believed it said about life, i.e., life is just waiting around for the invariable end and nothing ever really happens (kind of like Seinfeld but not as cheerful).  I understood its place in theatrical history (I was one of the weird theater majors – I actually enjoyed theater history).  And even through the lackluster student performances, you could get a sense that it was an “important” theatrical art work, but I never got a sense of why it was touted as such.

All that said, let me be honest, I went to see this production of Godot because of the performers:  Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin (John Goodman and John Glover were just icing on the cake).  I went cross-country just to see them and I was not disappointed.  Well, what can I say,  sometimes shallowness pays off.  This production of Waiting for Godot was eye-opening.  My seat was three rows from the stage and I could watch the smallest of gestures and movements between the actors and I never once got a sense that they were anything other than the characters they were portraying.  I believed I was there with them and was watching all this as it happened to them.  Many is the time while watching a play you get this wink at the audience attitude and you can feel the actors repeating their lines more my rout than actually feeling what they are  saying.  That was not the case here.

The play was funny and fun and sad and pathetic and oh, now I understand the truth in the nothing.  The play to me was about the relationship between the two men.  A relationship grown stale by repetition and familiarity.  And although affection exists between them, they are trapped in an endless and nonsensical loop from which they cannot break free while waiting for something that will never happen.

Having said that at one point watching the performance it seemed to me that it was more of an internal dialog.  The characters representing the parts of the consciousness of one being waiting for that outside force to free it from its endless loop of non-events.  The set could be interpreted as the interior of a skull – but again, that could just be me.  It was a rock and sand and grey….

I tend to over think things, or couldn’t you tell.   I sort of wish I had the financial ability to have gone to see the London production of Godot with Sir Ian and Patrick Stewart – that production ends on August 8th – so chances are I’m not going to make it (click on poster to go to site).

But you can’t have everything…. and the Broadway production was more than satisfying.

Snape is not cut out for office work…

I was told we had a new hire in the office.  As I typed away, I had the oddest sensation of my senses being ensnared and my concentration penetrated… The new guy, er …Professor, he says he wants to be called, Professor … did not really mesh well with the rest of the office.  He complained bitterly about our kitchen muttering something about “muggles” and our use of “bizarre contraptions.”

He brought our copy clerk to tears, yelling at her repeatedly “Page 394! Your copier has eaten my Page 394!”

The whole office was cowering when he discovered someone had “pilfered” from his personal stores (i.e., the Prof’s  sandwich had been taken from the fridge and he was in a tizzy, threatening the culprit with poisoned pumpkin juice???

After that he went back to ranting and raving in the copyroom about his missing Page 394…

Needless to say, Prof. Snape was canned before the end of the day for cursing …

Too bad.  We’ll miss him.  He was kind of cute.  Personally, I’ll miss the cape swishing down the hall.

(I was most pleasantly surprised by receiving my own full-sized cut-out of Snape – THANK YOU LR RL!!!!!)

Half of the Half Blood Prince

Alright, if you’re reading this I expect you to have read the Half Blood Prince and have seen the movie.  This is full of spoilers.  So off you go to read and then to the movies if you haven’t yet … go on.  This will be here when you get back.  The rest of you, follow me (swirls cape and swooshes down to the below….)

 

 

 

 

 

We went to see the Half Blood Prince yesterday, my comadres and two of their little ones who are now of an age to be able to watch the movies.  And as we left the movie I decided that this was probably going to be my number two most favorite of the Potter movies (Number one of course being Prisoner of Azkaban which was brilliantly directed by Alfonso Cuarón).  But as we sat outside the movie theater and discussed what was missing and what issues we had with the film, I started to think about what I had just seen.  The movie is not faithful to the book which I expected but what I consider major scenes were left out and scenes were included whose inclusion I question.  Characters were dropped (Bill and Fleur for example) and others who hold prominence in this book were reduced to serving drinks (poor Neville).  But still I liked the movie.  I will tell you first why I liked the film and then I will expound on what I found to be missing, wrong, not acceptable, etc.  (You’d better get comfortable ‘cause I tend to be long-winded – get yourself a beverage and a blankie if you’re going to be in this for the long haul).

 What I enjoyed about the film is the same thing I enjoy about the books – the characters.  This time around I think all the kids in the movie have made a great stride forward in showcasing their acting abilities.  I was most pleasantly surprised with Daniel Radcliffe.  I’ve always felt he was a bit wooden in the role (I can hear the gasps from the Dan-Fans – sorry but its true).  In this film he comes across as much more natural, looser, more at ease in the role.  Frankly, I’ve always wondered if he only had one setting on his acting abilities (the Potter Channel – all Potter all the time) but his little stretch into “Happy Harry” when he takes the good luck potion  (Felix Felicis) was so well done  it made me think he has potential to go beyond Potter once this is all done.  (Perhaps his theater stint helped broaden his range).  Tom Felton, as well,  has grown into his role, imbuing Draco, as the anti-Potter, with the necessary pathos of someone trapped into doing something he does not want to.  And of course, Rupert has always been a natural at playing Ron (as has Emma at playing Hermione) and I enjoyed the easy interactions between the three characters – they have grown into the parts extremely well.

 The changes the characters are going through as they grow into young adults is well handled.  I’ve read other reviewers lament that there is too much “love struck teen age angst” in this film but really, the movie is about these kids and their growth, and love-struck angst is  part of the growth process.  Although, I will admit to having the same reaction as Snape did watching Lavender, Hermione and Ron in the hospital scene.  And there it is – look at how long I was able to go without mentioning Snape and Alan Rickman!  It took a lot of self control but I did it.  Alright, well having mentioned Snape, I will now place him in reserve for a later, very in depth analysis (prepare yourself Professor) and go on to some other highlights of the film.

 The production design, set dressing and costuming of the film was extremely well done.  I want to get the DVD as soon as it’s out so I can pause and inspect Spinners’ End and the Potions classroom and Slughorn’s quarters.  Someone had a marvelous time providing us with details.  This is the stuff I used to love to do way, way back in the day when I was doing set design –  finding just the book to put on the bookshelf that no one may notice but will add to the whole scene if they do, positioning papers and knickknacks and pictures to delienate the character and tell the his or her story in images.. It is a form of acting in a way … whoops but I digress….

 Michael Gambon’s Dumbledore was actually likeable this time around.  Perhaps “likeable” is too strong of a word.  Let’s say I pleasantly tolerated him in this movie and didn’t sit there mumbling “Richard Harris would have been so much better” under my breath.  Gambon’s portrayal of Dumbledore was a kinder, gentler version of what we’ve seen in the past three movies.  Although I found his asking Potter about his love life just a tad bit creepy.  

 Jim Broadbent was perfectly cast as Slughorn.  He hit every beat and revealed every folly of the man while keeping him sympathetic and likeable.  And then there’s Snape, stern, mysterious, cape-swirling Snape.  Alan Rickman as Snape embodies everything I liked about the film but also what I what I didn’t like –  And with that I will leave the rest for the next post ‘cause this is already way, way too long and I fear there is no one reading at this point except maybe one of my comadres.

and its for a great cause…

Its a win/win thing.  What am I talking about you ask?  Has the heat withered your already addled brain? (No I got the air fixed so its not the heat – see previous post if confused).  A new recording is being released entitled Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales.  A portion of the proceeds from sales of this CD will go to helping South African children who have been orphaned and/or impacted by HIV/AIDS.  The CD features narrations of these folktales by artists such as Gillian Anderson, Hugh Jackman, Helen Mirren, Don Cheadle, Samuel L. Jackson and Alan Rickman.  Here go to this site African Folktales to listen to excerpts of these narrations.  This only serves as further proof that Mr. Rickman should be doing more audio work – i.e., a CD of poems – John Donne in particular his poem, Song (you know… Go and Catch a Falling Star…  here I refer you to my previous post about that. The whole poem is there for your perusal.

Oh, and I saw this and got the link form the Alan Rickman Download Haven

A small opinion

The evil that men do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones,

Hmm, I’m thinking that in this time in history, that is not necessarily true Mr. Shakespeare.  We live in an age where faults, evils and mistakes hound those in the media’s grip while they are alive.  And upon the poor soul’s passing, the media takes full possession of their lives and deify that same person whose every personal issue was the base of derision and contempt, bemoan their passing as a loss to humanity, forgiving their transgressions and setting them up as a mini-deity for the populace to fixate upon.  Insert name of any and all recently passed celebrities here.

Hooray Its Almost June 12th!

Tomorrow when I wake up I’ll think, thank God, thank God its over!  No longer will I have to listen to the same message broadcast on every television station over and over again, in English, in Spanish, sign languate, live action, animated and/or CGI’s for cripes sake!  We know! We know already.  Analog television is over, we’re moving on to digital, yada, yada, box converter, yada, yada, coupon, yada, yada, June 12th!  Yipppee!