Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Ellen's LiveJournal:

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Friday, November 20th, 2009
2:58 am	I hadn't been to the dentist since July, 2007. Tartar (or is it plaque?) builds on my teeth very quickly and I should get twice-a-year cleanings. However, like everyone else I'm not fond of the dentist (sorry, dentists! Nothing personal) and tend not to go unless forced by pain. The pain (more like sensitivity) this time appeared to be the result of receding gums. The dental exam and x-rays confirmed this, and they referred me for a periodontal deep cleaning. I checked the insurance roster and chose a periodontist at a fancy address on Fifth Ave. He examined me, measured the gum pockets, looked at the other dentist's x-rays, and thought that while I really needed a cleaning, the gums seemed OK. The deep cleaning, done over 2 subsequent visits by a hygienist, wasn't as bad as I'd feared; they numbed the area with topical anesthetic. When rinsing after the first cleaning, globs of blood came out (not unusual, said the hygienist). The second side had no blood in the rinse water, and indeed she thought my mouth looked better since the first visit 2 weeks before (the cleanings were supposed to be a week apart but I had to postpone due to a cold). During that time, they instructed me to floss 3 times a day and brush a certain way, and I also used a gum treatment I found on the Internet. The doctor will check me again in 3 weeks. The cold I had was probably not a flu - mild fever around 100, sore throat, coughing. It curtailed my frenetic theater-going schedule, and also meant I missed a school reunion: I was going to go to the Great Neck South '69 brunch on 11/8. I was North '69 so didn't want to go to South's big Saturday night reunion, but most of my elementary school (Grace Avenue/Kensington) went to South and I'm in touch with a few people, so figured I'd catch the brunch. I woke up that morning with no voice, so that was out. Oh well. My actual class will have their 40th reunion in 2010 (so it's really the 41st), because we're iconoclasts that way; we also had a 36th instead of a 35th. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
7:10 pm	Classical music concerts Orrett Rhoden at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall 10/15: I picked up the ticket at the main Carnegie Hall box office, but wasn't sure where Zankel was. Then I overheard someone saying it was around the corner and realized this was the old Carnegie Hall Cinema's space, now renovated as a modern, wood-paneled hall. This Jamaican pianist has a big, romantic style which seemed a bit much for some of the pieces, but worked best for the Chopin scherzo and Beethoven's Waldstein sonata. One of the encores sounded familiar and I laughed when I realized it was an ornate version of Bob Marley's "One Love." The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson trio at the 92nd St. Y 10/27: The 92nd St. Y had a trivia contest in their e-mail newsletter asking at which president's inauguration the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson trio debuted. I had to Google to find the answer (Carter - surprising since I didn't know Sharon Robinson was old enough), and sent it in. And won two tickets to a KLR concert! So neighbor J and I went crosstown to the 92nd St. Y on a Tuesday afternoon and heard two Schubert piano trios. I've played opus 99, and the other one was also nice and melodic. NY Philharmonic 11/12 with pianist Garrick Ohlsson: This was reviewed (in the Times), unlike the other concerts I attended (at least, I didn't find any reviews). Subscriber M invited me to fill in for his friend, and we did the early bird special at BBQ, stopped at Barnes & Noble and then went to the concert. One of the orchestra members I know wasn't there, and the other only played for the first half. The music (Haydn, Martinu, and Sibelius) was all new to me. Kun Woo Paik at Carnegie Hall 11/15: I arrived at second tier box 6, seat 4 to find that I not only couldn't see the piano keyboard, but couldn't see the piano at all, just the back of the stage. So I switched my (movable) chair with the as yet unoccupied chair next to it and could then see the pianist's face. The other seat remained empty so I didn't feel too guilty. The hall was too crowded to consider moving to the opposite side for a view of the keyboard. This Korean pianist played an ambitious program of 6 Brahms pieces and the last 3 Beethoven sonatas. I'm familiar with the Schnabel recordings which make late Beethoven sound other-worldly. This pianist's style was more pedal-y, and also sent chills up my spine. The audience was heavily Korean and very appreciative; Paik intended to play the three sonatas without pause (as he did for the Brahms before intermission) but everyone just had to applaud by the end of the second sonata. There was lots of applause and curtain calls when he finished, and he did an encore (vaguely familiar - Liszt?; someone asked if I knew what it was and I wondered if the answer was online - so far, not. Maybe I'll ask the sponsoring organization). The next day, I tried to play the Beethoven sonatas. Ack! I hope my neighbors weren't too upset. (Comment on this)
Friday, November 13th, 2009
2:24 pm	I have a lot to catch up on, and will spare everyone one huge posting (Facebook import ignores LJ cuts) by doing it in bits. First, puzzles. I test-solve the NYT on paper while proofreading so the early-week puzzles are never sprint-fests. The weekend puzzles (Friday-Saturday, which I consider interchangeable) are too hard to be affected by sprintability so those have more valid times (though I'm still faster typing online). Recently, these times have been consistent: Fri 10/23 (Barry Silk) 6:13 Sat 10/24 (Paula Gamache) 7:01 Fri 10/30 (David Levinson Wilk) 6:15 Oops, 10/31 is not in the pile Fri 11/06 (Doug Peterson) 6:05 Sat 11/07 (Bob Klahn) 6:39 Fri 11/13 (Dana Motley) 6:20 Sat 11/14 (I won't reveal future authors) 6:36 Fri 11/20 6:37 Sat 11/21 6:29 Most people had trouble with the Klahn, but it seemed like a normal weekend puzzle to me. Usually Klahn kills me (though he did construct the final ACPT puzzle the year I won). It helped that the pop culture was right up my alley: Nancy Drew, Janis Joplin, the Who, Dion, Damn Yankees, Henry Moore, Peter Maas, Peter Gunn (I knew EDIE - though not her last name - from songs named after her in my Henry Mancini songbook). I'm way behind in online crosswords - just getting to August. That's not so bad compared to February for People/Us/Star/EW mags. I finished another Sudoku book: Frank Longo's "Mensa Absolutely Nasty Sudoku Level 3." These were a little too hard for me. Many times I had to enter all the possible answers, and even then I still couldn't unearth the Swordfish or other advanced technique that would crack the puzzle. I then had to resort to looking at the answer, entering a number I knew was wrong, and proving it would lead to an invalid solution. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
4:35 pm	Considering all the cultural events I attend, I could never live anywhere but New York (not to mention that I don't drive). Well, maybe London. Sure, you can see things on TV, DVD, or the Web, but there's an immediacy and excitement about live performance. I didn't know much about Sue Costello, except that she's a comedian. I watched some video on YouTube before attending her show "Minus 32 Million Words," and worried I might have trouble understanding her Boston accent. That wasn't a problem, but the show was far from a laugh riot. Though there were a few samples of her comedy act, it was more the story of Sue's rough growing-up years in working-class Boston. Even though I've worked in TV, it's still exciting to go behind the scenes at a show. NATAS, the Emmy organization, had an outing to a "Rachael Ray Show" taping last week. Nine women and one intrepid male got a pre-show tour of the studio and a Q&A afterward with the producers.  We were in the audience for segments of 3 shows, including Elizabeth Hurley/Evelyn Lauder (aired last Friday; I was next to some guys asking questions but never appeared onscreen other than a few seconds of my shoulder. I'm way over my 15 minutes of fame, so better that someone else gets a shot), cooking a fajita frittata and an amazing 90-year-old fitness trainer (these air this Friday), and Kaley Cuoco (not scheduled yet). The audience (who all seemed to be from New Jersey) physically rotates on a lazy Susan-type device to the various sets. The audience received a pita chips snack and tote bag full of Nature's Path Organic cereals and toaster pastries (way too much for me - I gave the extras to neighbors). MoMA now has a Film Plus membership, which I joined. I then got an e-mail that boasted they'd scheduled FOUR special events for the year. Even allowing that we can invite a guest (and I did!) that's not nearly enough for the extra cost. We'll see how it goes. The first event was a sneak preview of "Where the Wild Things Are," introduced by Catherine Keener. Fantasy and monsters aren't my thing, but this had a gentleness and wasn't bad. I've never been to the New Yorker Festival, but am on the mailing list and decided to try to get tickets immediately after they became available. This is a popular event, and everything I was interested in was sold out in minutes (or even seconds). I was especially hoping to see former co-worker Amy Ozols, but apparently everyone else was too (she suggested that Woody Allen's presence on her panel might be a factor). After this initial failure to get tickets, I forgot about the festival, and thus missed the opportunity to buy last-minute tickets that Friday or on-site. Oh well, maybe next year. On Sunday night, I bit into some hot food and felt pain in a bottom molar. I sometimes have tooth pain on top which is probably sinuses, but bottom? Uh-oh. Still, I had no problem with cold food (or subsequent hot food) and the pain was not constant. Research shows that the issue is probably receding gums causing sensitivity in the tooth pocket. I called the dentist Monday. Since I was feeling better, I accepted an appointment for next week but if it gets bad, I'll try to be squeezed in earlier. I'm way overdue (like 2 years) for a cleaning, and they're so busy they can't book that until 2010! I hate when things don't work (e.g., teeth) and feel so happy when they are repaired. Microsoft finally got back to me, and we got System Restore restored. Safe mode still crashes, and they said I might have to reinstall Windows for that to work. I couldn't find the disk (they claimed I had to get it from Dell. They're Microsoft: can't they send me files?), so they recommended letting it go since everything works fine otherwise. I later found Dell's disk but would rather not reinstall unless I have to. Then I wanted to TiVo Rachael Ray and found it hadn't updated in almost 2 weeks (I hadn't turned on the TV so never noticed). I did the standard restart and then manual call, but it never remained connected through an entire call. The problem may be that there was a system update, which combined with the programming backlog made for a long call and line interference can knock it off. I switched numbers 3 times and finally got it to update (1.5 hours) and download the info (another 1.5 hours). The updated listings did not immediately show up, but were there the following morning. Updating continues to work properly so that's a relief. I watched a little Nightline, a little TMZ, and found that "Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team" started series 4 so of course I had to watch that. More events recapped next post. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, October 12th, 2009
1:38 am	The library delivered a copy of "Wishful Drinking" to my branch (that was fast!) and I've checked it out. I recently finished: "Lovehampton" by Sherri Rifkin - (blah blah background on the Hamptons). The share house in this book was more upscale and less crowded than the one in the other book, but no less zooey or fun to read about. I just eat up this kind of novel. "Rites of Spring (Break): An Ivy League Novel" by Diana Peterfreund - Another Yale-set novel I didn't like. Make that "Eli University" in New Haven. Maybe that 1969 rejection is biasing my thinking. The secret society goings-on seemed pointless. ( Shows, shows, shows ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
3:15 am	Inspired by Carrie Fisher's show, I went to the neighborhood branch library to see if they had "Wishful Drinking," but both copies were checked out. I put a hold on it. My computer woes continue: Windows system restore and safe mode still don't work. I e-mailed the Microsoft tech support person (who had told me to follow up if there were more problems), with no response. After a week, I'll call their virus help number again, I guess. They can connect to your computer remotely, which is very cool. Post-show discussions in theater seem to be called "talkbacks," as opposed to movie "Q & A's." There was such a discussion with the writer and director after my performance of "Still Life" at the Lucille Lortel. The play was a fast-paced story of the art (photography) world, but more about fear and mortality. One of the characters was over-the-top crass (the writer revealed that one potential producer wanted him cut completely), while others were more sympathetic. Dominic Chianese (Uncle Junior in "The Sopranos") has a small role. One of the people waiting outside for the house to open looked a lot like Grace Coddington from Vogue. Wow, she looks so much younger in person. But would she really be at a preview performance of a play in the Village? And stay for the talkback? "Grace" and her friend happened to be on my subway home (No, I was not stalking! In fact, I went into the station ahead of them) and she didn't seem to have a British accent so... no, not her. On Wednesday I really wanted to be done at the Times early, so I could make a 6pm dinner at Lincoln Center Ollie's with the visiting J and about a dozen others. Luckily, Will had to leave for Philadelphia that afternoon, so the puzzles were in early and I was able to finish. Dinner was rollicking and delicious (Chinese restaurant tip: take as much of your own dish as you want before passing it around the table, since that may be the last you see of it), though the group was so large I never talked to several people. Afterward we stopped at a gelato stand called Screme but I wasn't sure how fattening it was, so stayed outside. Someone inside called for me, and it turns out the attendant asked how our large group all knew each other, and when told "Crosswords" said, "Oh, like in that movie." So I was summoned, and then Jon. Speaking of Chinese restaurant sharing, I never recapped Pleasantville. Quickly: took the train up with Jeffurry (not going to do LJ tags), Toon, Nucky, Matt, and Hot (who walked by just as I said, "If you see Hot, knock on the window"). Discovered another great and unique Magic Wok dish to add to the almond-crusted chicken: velvet prawns. Hung out and graded papers at the tournament (which was more work than usual, due to a new prize for randomly-selected perfect paper each round), where Jeff won after previous multiple finals (he was getting to be the Al Sanders/Ellen Ripstein of P-ville). Ditto drove me over to Will's house, where we hung out some more. Will's table tennis friend who had asked at the movie premiere if my sister was my mother was there, and I told him my sister's still mad at him. As I was about to leave for the train, I learned Dan was driving back so rode with him and Amanda instead. Two one-man shows this week. First, "A Boy and His Soul" at the Vineyard (just extended to November 1). This got glowing reviews, which were well-deserved. Soul music formed the soundtrack of Colman Domingo's growing up in Philadelphia, and he played lots of great selections while acting out his story. I've been humming "TSOP" all day. Lemon Andersen is only a few years younger than Domingo, but the hip-hop backdrop of his "County of Kings" (at the Public) was less relatable for me. Lemon's story is rougher, with drugs, AIDS, crime and jail part of his and his family members' lives. He eventually gets into poetry and finds his calling. There was a talkback for this, but it was 10pm and I wanted to get home. One of this week's shows was courtesy of an alumni group, which offered a small number of tickets, first come, first served. I said I wanted just one (too much trouble to find someone else on short notice), and apparently it wasn't clear since they wrote back to make sure how many. I then got an e-mail from someone with the production company confirming me for 2 tickets under my name at the box office. I wrote back saying, no, ONE is fine, and the alumni person said he indeed told them this and also sent them the name of the other single requester. At the box office, there was confusion as to what group this was under and when they eventually found my name, handed me - you got it - TWO tickets. Oy. I gave the other one back. There was an empty seat next to me, and an empty seat next to a guy a few seats down so he may have been the other "one." Oh well. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, September 27th, 2009
8:53 pm	Wishful Reading Not really, I'm just riffing on the previous "Wishful Drinking" posting. I've recently finished these books: "Loved Me Once" by Gail Hewitt - Maggie has a high-powered corporate job and is (of course) gorgeous, but her life is not perfect, with a difficult mother going into dementia and her finances not secure. She gets a job that reminds me of the one in "Citizen Girl," where there's a lot of business-speak without a clear idea of her function. Maggie also has not one, but two handsome billionaires wooing her. Now that's a high-class problem. Despite these snarky comments, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the sequel, "Love Me Now." Thanks to Library Thing Early Reviewers program. "Open Heart" by Mary Bringle - Italian young widow Rafaella goes to Texas for heart surgery and meets a dashing documentary filmmaker, then returns to Italy. Will they meet again? This book (from 1982) went very slowly and I really didn't care. "Laurel Canyon" by Steve Krantz - Judith Krantz is famous for novels about the rich and famous and her husband Steve (who died in 2007) was no slouch in this area either. Beautiful superagent Stevie Tree deals with her own past, scandals, coverups, and other business as usual in evil Hollywood. My kind of book. (Comment on this)
8:48 pm	Wishful Drinking Forget about relaxing for a few days - I had a last-minute opportunity to see today's matinee of Carrie Fisher's "Wishful Drinking" and dashed down to Studio 54. I had been at Studio twice before: for an alumni party in 1978 (which I attended with my sister and some of her friends; we danced, and heard Gloria Gaynor sing "I Will Survive" live), and for a work Emmy party in 2001 (we won, and I got to touch an Emmy). So I did not experience the place in its famous decadence. The site was originally a theater, and now it is again, housing this one-woman show. My luck in one-woman shows has been good this week. If you'd asked my opinion after the first act, I'd say I loved loved loved it. By the end, not quite as much (tales of depression got a little draggy), though I still really liked it. Fisher was born to celeb royalty and in the great celeb tradition has messed up, come back, messed up again, and so on. She comes across as sharp, witty and upbeat despite a history of depression, and is aware of her own role in pop culture (Princess Leia action figures!). The set is a living room and you feel as if your BFF is sitting with you dishing the dirt (I like Paul Simon, too! We both think we turn men gay!). While I was happy just listening, there were some multimedia illustrations, and a cute example of audience participation. I happened to exit near the stage door and was tempted to wait, but despite now feeling well-acquainted, Carrie Fisher is not my BFF or friend at all. I'll have to settle for reading the "Wishful Drinking" book. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
2:23 am	Nothing's currently scheduled for the next few days, so I hope I'll be able to rest, atone, and recuperate from my semi-cold. I usually don't book theater on NYT workdays, but things were going so well Wednesday afternoon that I made reservations for that evening. I then ran into a snag and couldn't finish, sent the problem file to N to look at while I was gone, and ran out. Luckily, when I got back he had figured out the problem so I could get done at a reasonable hour. The play was actually plays - "Two Unrelated Plays by David Mamet" ("Keep Your Pantheon" and "School"), at the Atlantic on W. 20th. First time there. You'd think by now I would've been to every theater in New York, but not even close. "School" was a short riff on recycling and academic absurdities, an appetizer to the main play, a farce set in ancient Rome. The story of a hapless acting troupe was not quite as goofy as "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" but was pretty darn goofy. Very un-Mametlike, which is a good thing (I hated the original production of "Oleanna" in the '90s). The next night I was in the balcony of the old Shubert Theater for the second preview of "Memphis." I had high hopes for this musical with the same composer/lyricist team as "Toxic Avenger" and subject matter reminiscent of "Hairspray." It did not disappoint; I liked it a lot, and the audience was highly enthusiastic. Outside afterward, people were being filmed giving those reactions you see in the commercials, but I was not a media whore and went right home. I forgot to mention that a few weeks ago, on the way out of "9 to 5" I saw a crowd gathered in Shubert Alley waiting for the "Next to Normal" cast to come out of the stage door. I continued toward the subway but just as I reached the street, heard loud cheers and rushed back to see the husband and then Alice Ripley (who closer-up still reminds me of Helene) greeting the crowd. Then on the way back from "Superior Donuts" I again saw the "Next to Normal" cast (or at least the son) making the rounds of the fans. I wonder if this nightly acclaim ever gets old to stage actors. Speaking of acclaim, I got recognized on the subway this week - the fun never ends! I normally wouldn't be up and about at 11am but had the opportunity to see a Philharmonic concert Friday morning, so one must sacrifice. The orchestra did Brahms' Violin Concerto (which I'm familiar with) and Schoenberg's "Pelleas und Melisande." New conductor Alan Gilbert gave a brief and helpful lecture explaining the story and main instrumental themes of the latter piece. I had the leftmost seat in row D, so close I could see the violinists' music. Speaking of up close and personal, I once met one of the violists almost 20 years ago, and thought I was looking right at him, but later read they switched the orchestra layout and I was actually facing the violinists. Another orchestra member is a puzzle constructor's neighbor who I'd met at a party, but I could not see her section from my angle. Another first-time theater visit was to Playwrights Horizons for "The Retributionists." Very nice venue, leathery seats. The play, about Holocaust survivors plotting revenge (and playing musical beds), was not as bad as the reviews implied, but not a masterpiece either. I've been to the New World Stages complex many times (including when it was the Worldwide movie theater), and tonight saw "The Gazillion Bubble Show" which was supposed to run for a week in 2007 and is still around. Vietnam-born bubble artist Ana Yang charmed the audience with her visual displays (and cried "Bubble trouble!" when they occasionally fizzled). Although the show is geared for kids (the child next to me ruled it "awesome"), adults can appreciate it too. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
2:32 am	If I get sick, how can I keep going to so many plays? I'm still feeling a bit coughy and runny-nosed. I was considering going to Miami for Yom Kippur but decided not to, in case I am actually sick. This didn't stop me from going to the theater, though I had to drink from my water bottle several times to minimize coughing. While there are a few bargains at Whole Foods (rotisserie chicken is reasonable, as is some of the produce), I almost keeled over when the cashier rang up a 12oz. bag of diet macaroons - $11.99! I should have put it back, but was still in shock. But hey, I saved 10 cents by bringing my own bag. Research on the manufacturer's web site shows the same package offered for $8.99, still expensive. I have now tried these and while they're OK, they're not THAT great. Never again. I also got caught having pricey pizza in the theater district, at a place on 8th Ave. in the 40s (UPDATE: It's "A Slice of New York"; I passed by there on Saturday). After getting a white and white/spinach slice warmed up, I was chagrined to see the $10.80 total. Oops, I should have noticed that specialty slices are $4.99 each. The slices were large and delicious but that's a lot for pizza. I tried to eat with plastic utensils but the heat of the food melted them into ineffectiveness. After 3 replacements of knives and forks, I gave up and picked it up, hoping I'd be able to wash my hands. I heard some women say the bathroom was disgusting (stuff on the floor, yuck; good thing I'd already finished eating), so waited until I got to the theater - where the bathroom was modern, spacious, clean, and had no pre-performance line. That theater was the Samuel J. Friedman, where "The Royal Family" was playing. This is a revival of a 1927 Kaufman/Ferber play about a theatrical family (reportedly based on the Barrymores) that starred Rosemary Harris in a previous run in the '70s. Harris was back, now playing the matriarch. The ushers were busy so I found my seat myself, whereupon an usher came over and asked if that was my usual seat. Huh? No, I just read the seat number (and why would I have a usual seat anyway, and if I did, why would I choose the leftmost seat in the second row?). I later realized this Manhattan Theatre Club production had regular subscribers who might have regular seats. My neighbors spotted Julia Stiles but I didn't see her. The play was longish (3 acts, 2 intermissions) but engaging. I misread the program's description of the East 50s setting as being the 1950s and wondered why '50s women dressed like flappers. My other Broadway seats last week were all mezzanine. For "Burn the Floor" I was in the last row (J) but that was fine for a dance show, giving a June Taylor-like effect from above. I know nothing about ballroom dancing, haven't watched the dance reality TV shows, and wasn't sure I'd like this when I saw the descriptions of traditional dances (waltz, rumba, etc.) in the program. I had visions of the Harvest Moon Ball, which I'd attended with my parents as a little kid (so little it was in the old Madison Square Garden), with dancers in poufy dresses gliding around. But the staging here was ultra-modern and dynamic. No plot, just dancing. Breathtaking to watch. The following night it was back to the balcony for the first preview performance of "Superior Donuts" by Tracy Letts who wrote "August: Osage County" (which I didn't see). Michael McKean played a world-weary child of the '60s wondering if he should give up his family's Chicago donut shop, and the brash employee who has other ideas. Worth seeing. Before the play, I stopped by the Alan Klotz Gallery in Chelsea where former Great Neck-ite Carolyn Marks Blackwood was exhibiting Hudson River photos. She also produced the movie "The Duchess." I also saw the opening preview of "After Miss Julie" with Sienna Miller and Jonny Lee Miller. I kept thinking, "That's Angelina Jolie's first husband!" but he's also a good British actor. The original Strindberg play was about a Scandinavian count, and this version takes place in 1945 England and highlights class-consciousness, romance, and power. Yet another opening night preview was Charlayne Woodard's "The Night Watcher" tonight in the big theater at 59E59. One-woman shows can be hit or miss, and this was very much hit. With no scenery other than a chair and some images projected on a screen, the actress immediately brings you into her world, acting out stories (focusing on being an "auntie") and characters with skill and aplomb. I was also at 59E59 for a weekend matinee of "The Pride of Parnell Street" in Theater B. This has gotten several good reviews and is a powerful set of alternating monologues of an estranged Dublin couple recounting their somewhat rough lives. I didn't care for "Mahida's Extra Key to Heaven," about the cross-cultural clashes of an Iranian student, her brother, a kind American, and his clueless mother. The play was very talky and I'm not clear on everything in the plot. I might have benefited from a post-show discussion with the cast and a Yeshiva U. professor, but left in order to get home before 11 so I could order both dinner and the next day's Fresh Direct (barely made it in time). I also saw "The September Issue," the documentary about Vogue magazine. Famous fashionista editor Anna Wintour gets lots of screen time but her longtime associate, creative director Grace Coddington, steals the movie. This former model now in her 60s has long, frizzy red hair and a style all her own. A fun look at a strange industry. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, September 14th, 2009
3:06 pm	Broadway and beyond I thought I was getting a flu at the end of last week. Had a scratchy throat, cough, and slight fever (100.8) the one time I took my temperature. I carried a bottle of water with me and had to drink it while seeing some plays, trying hard not to cough and annoy the audience. But it seems my computer (with the virus) was sicker than me, and I'm feeling better so maybe that was a false alarm. I did have a flare-up of my allergy (whose cause was never determined) over the weekend, with my face swelling alarmingly, but I'm OK two 24-hour Claritins later. So maybe I won't have to avoid plays (other than the two I already have tickets to) this week. Here's what I've seen since last report. "Far Out" (Fringe Festival) - Lorinne has enormous personal charisma, so I was happy to see that translated into talent onstage. Wearing '50s outfits, she sang and danced (and had a few lines) as part of the "Far Out" ensemble. The musical had some elements of "Toxic Avenger" but was unfortunately not nearly as good (and was miked too loud). "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo" (Fringe Festival) - I went downtown on a rainy Saturday morning to see my cousin Rachel in this adaptation of a Herman Melville short story. I didn't want to distract her with eye contact or (worse) waving or yoo-hooing, but the theater was small and she did see me. The play's creator and star, Danny Ashkenasi, was acting up a storm and it took a while to figure out what was going on. Very simply, he's drawn by the call of a rooster (thus getting to say "cock" often - get your minds out of the gutter! It's a rooster) and things went on from there. Rachel got to use her violin skills in portraying the rooster's call, as well as acting various parts. "Puppetry of the Penis" - speaking of cocks (OK, you can put your minds back in the gutter),.. Yup, this production has no puppets other than body parts. Still, this isn't really racy once you get past the fact that you're looking at naked men's genitals. The evening had a bachelorette/gay guy party vibe, and began with comedian Amy Schumer (who alternates shows with two other comics) warming up the crowd. Then the two "puppeteers" emerged in capes and eased us into their unveiling. Their "installations" of things like hamburgers, the Olympic torch (complete with flame) and Yoda were shown on a big screen for optimum viewing. I heard the Aussie originators on Howard Stern during the show's first run a few years ago, but this production starred two young Americans, recent conservatory grads who didn't expect their New York debut to be quite like this. Giggles galore. "The Ghosts of Provincetown" - a double bill of the crossword-friendly O'Neill play "Ile" (a whaling captain has to decide whether to turn back and satisfy his near-mutinous crew and unhappy wife, or continue and catch enough to profit) and Louise Bryant's ("Reds") "The Game" (Life and Death battle for souls). Heavy themes, well-acted. "Race Music" - Black classical music enthusiast LeBron is turned away when he tries to get a job as a radio announcer in a midwestern city in 1999. This seemed too recent for such blatant and illegal racism, but it's all explained with some complicated backstory. Despite the overplotting and sometimes contrived situations, I enjoyed this look inside radio and especially liked the classical music used as background. "Tales from Rainwater Pond" - part of an Irish festival, this play was done downstairs at Irish Rep. The nice lady in the box office directed me to a young woman checking people in at the head of the stairs, who thought I looked familiar. Yes, she saw "Wordplay" and said her mother would be especially excited to hear she met me. Oh right, the play. Billy Roche ably performed two of these tales, about a woman reminiscing about her brother's drowning, and a man telling of a poignant first love. "Spinning the Times" (59E59) - also part of the Irish festival, this was held in the smallest theater (C) at 59E59 so I now have a venue complete. "The Pride of Parnell Street" had its opening night the same night, and I heard many Irish accents in the bar waiting area (which is somewhat claustrophobic) and saw the lady from the Irish Rep box office. Turns out she's the company's co-founder and artistic director, Charlotte Moore. My show was 5 monologues by Irish female writers, based on current events. Good. "Phantom of the Opera" - I go to the theater all the time, yet never saw this longest running Broadway musical ever. Perched in the rear mezzanine, I finally saw it. The staging is spectacular and everything is grand and schmaltzy, but my problem is I just don't like operatic voices. Still, certainly worth seeing. "Broke-ology" (Lincoln Center - Mitzi Newhouse) - I like soul and disco a lot more than opera, and some good songs were played both before and (just a bit) during this play about a struggling Kansas City family. Several poignant moments, especially at the end. As I left the building, I realized I should have stopped at the ladies' room but figured I could go to Barnes & Noble nearby. It was like the recurring dream where there's something wrong with every bathroom. The main one was closed for cleaning (the sign said 15-20 minutes), the one near the cafe had just 2 stalls and a line, and the one in the kids' section was supposed to be just for kids (you had to ask for the key and I wondered if I should try to bribe the salesperson). I hung around at the main one but it seemed like a long time and they were still cleaning. So I went home - stopping for groceries and pizza (take-out slices), so it wasn't that big an emergency. I made it just fine, but for better peace of mind I should have either waited on the line or waited for the cleaning to finish. "Girls Night" - different vibe than "Puppetry..." but just as fun for a girls night out (though I went alone). The usual pre-show "turn off your cell phone" announcement was followed by one saying dancing was strictly permitted, and the disco score encouraged this. I was too shy to get up and dance except when it was strongly encouraged; if I ever saw this with my sister we'd be in the aisle the whole time. There was also a plot. I don't see why men wouldn't like this too, and a few brave ones in my audience seemed to enjoy it. "Shrek: the Musical" - rear mezzanine again for a Saturday matinee filled with kids. Unfortunately, full-sized adults sat in front of me blocking the view slightly - but the seat was unusually comfy. Very lavish set and effects. I didn't realize until curtain call that one actor performed entirely on his knees. The cast was good, but Pinocchio was annoying and the songs were generic. I never saw any of the movies, but that didn't seem to matter. "In the Daylight" - I failed to notice the box office on the ground floor and climbed to this 4th floor theater and then had to go back down and up again. The play was a dark (very dark) story of family secrets and murder with lots of familial yelling. The plot was a little contrived, but it worked. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
12:34 am	Movies that are better than "All About Steve" Before the list gets ridiculously long, here's what I've seen lately besides "All About Steve": Symphony Space has been doing double features of classics, and I walked over one Sunday afternoon for "Jules et Jim" (love triangle) and "The 400 Blows" (a schoolboy's seemingly minor infractions lead to worse and worse consequences). "Julie and Julia" - the parallel stories of Julia Child and blogger Julie. Meryl Streep as Julia was far more interesting. "Amreeka" - my first time at the Sunshine, in a screening arranged through IFP. The movie was a well-done fictional story of Palestinians in Illinois during the Iraq War. Filmmaker Cherien Dabis spoke afterward. This was the perfect antidote to the much worse "All About Steve" which I'd seen the previous day. "The Time Traveler's Wife" - saw this on a whim so hadn't read about it and spent much time wondering if the lead was Christian Bale (nope, equally crossword-friendly Eric Bana). I think the movie might have been less confusing if I'd read the book, but maybe all that jumping back and forth in time is not supposed to be crystal-clear. MoMA now has a "Film Plus" membership option, which I joined but I don't know yet whether it will be worth it. I did continue to use the current membership features and saw: "Wedding Crashers" - I knew a couple who used to get all dressed up and hit the big catering halls to crash weddings. I'm not sure how they avoided sit-down dinners with assigned seats, but they probably had just as much fun as Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn do in this movie. I'd never seen Wilson in anything before and he does have a certain charm (and his Butterscotch Stallion nickname hints at even more talents). Sure there are silly situations, but overall a fun movie. "Hairspray" - the movie musical version of the Broadway musical (which I didn't see) of the John Waters movie (which I saw). Waters has a cameo. Everything and everyone is cheerful and pastel-hued even though the topic occasionally gets serious. I liked it a lot, and the art during the credits was worth hanging around for (I always stay for the full credits, and am amazed how few others do). "A History of Violence" - a few minutes in, I had that "trapped in violence beyond my control" feeling but stuck it out. Duh, a movie with "Violence" in the title is going to be violent. Viggo Mortensen is a contented family man and diner owner in a backwater town who defends himself against would-be robbers. This makes the national news and he's soon visited by people who claim he had a very different life in the past. William Hurt was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for 8 minutes of screen time. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, September 13th, 2009
11:51 pm	How else would I know when it's time to defrost? For the record, I defrosted the refrigerator this week, about a year and a month after the last time (according to LJ). In honor of the occasion and lack of refrigeration I had one Chinese and one pizza meal. I finished another book. Volume 2 of Frank Longo's "Absolutely Nasty Sudoku." Toward the end, I got stuck even after writing in all the remaining possibilities so I need to learn more advanced techniques before volume 3. On the subway the other afternoon a man walked across the car and put a piece of paper on the seat next to me - a sketch of me! It said "please tip if you like it" and I did. I should have gotten his name in case he becomes the next Basquiat. I put it in the "frame someday" envelope with the WSJ hedcut original drawing and Emmy award certificate. I got notice Saturday that the antivirus software people updated the program to handle my problem, but the virus wouldn't let me install it. I tried a few things with customer service over the phone (this time, they were Americans in CA as opposed to the Australians I'd talked to when I first called in the middle of the night), but nothing worked. They are referring it to higher-level techies. Sigh. At least I have the laptop. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 10th, 2009
7:07 pm	People and Books Most of the time I can be found sitting in a movie, theater, or concert audience, reading a book, or doing puzzles. There's too much recent activity to put in one post, so I'll split it. Human contact: Once in a while, I interact with other humans. I'm not supposed to talk about it, but most people know I worked for a game show from 1999-2004 (and it was in the credits, so how could it be a secret?). And another game show in 2007 with pretty much the same people. In honor of the 10th anniversary, there was a reunion party recently at an Upper West Side bar. This included production people (as opposed to writing/research) I never knew anyway, as well as more recent staff I didn't know. But there were also lots of people I did know, and it was great to see them again. Many of us are Facebook friends, which keeps us in touch in a way we couldn't imagine in 1999. I had lunch with some puzzle people last week, and actually solved puzzles with other puzzle people on Labor Day. Although Zebra Boy's extravaganza came out Saturday, we met Monday and got through the first part, but petered out during the second. Still fun. Books: These were both from Visual Bookshelf's equivalent to the Library Thing Early Readers' Program. "My Sister's Ex" by Cydney Rax - Marlene takes up with her half sister (and roommate) Rachel's ex-fiancee Jeff, throwing their close-knit Houston family into turmoil. Turns out the sisters' mothers went through a similar situation with their father Blinky back in the day. The characters - family and friends - were depicted as warm and human, and I wouldn't mind reading about them again. "Evil at Heart" by Chelsea Cain - I haven't read the other books in this series, but that was not a problem; I felt like I knew enough to follow this one. But oh, the plot. There was a tremendous amount of graphic violence involving mutilation of body parts. This was very hard to take. The title was right - there was a lot of "evil" here. There's also a subplot of how the media glorifies crime and criminals, and how the public latches on to this coverage. If this were a movie, I probably wouldn't watch it. Even in book form, it'll take a while to get the gruesome imagery out of my head. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
5:00 pm	All About a Character Who Is Not Me Crossword people are not often portrayed in movies. "The Story of Us" (1999) starred Michelle Pfeiffer as a crossword constructor, which already doesn't sound too realistic (Michelle Pfeiffer playing any professional other than model/actress/glamorous person doesn't sound too realistic). I never saw it. News leaked early that Sandra Bullock (an actress whose movies I've generally liked) was working on a crossword-related project. While certainly attractive, Bullock has more of a girl-next-door vibe so this seemed like it might be OK. Even better, she met with Will Shortz for background. The report came back that she was pleasant, articulate and intelligent - and had even seen and loved "Wordplay." A few of us were contacted by the art department and given disposable cameras to photograph our homes to give them an idea how a crossword person lives. I took pictures of my messy place, complete with piles of books (including "How to Conquer Clutter") and stuffed lambs. That was in June, 2007, and I heard nothing after that. The movie was originally scheduled for March, 2009 release, but got pushed back. I saw the trailer, which said nothing about crosswords - but showed the character carrying a familiar-looking blue umbrella. Other than that, she looked nothing like me: ragged blond hairdo, miniskirt, and red go-go boots. The plot summary did not bode well: Quirky, eccentric crossword writer obsessively follows a news cameraman across the country. Huh? "All About Steve" finally came out Friday. Reviews were abysmal, with Rotten Tomatoes at ZERO percent favorable after 34 reviews, settling in at 5% to date (by contrast "Wordplay" had 95%, RT's best-rated documentary of 2006). Still, I had to see it. I have $6 prepaid AMC coupons good after the first 2 weeks, but wasn't sure this would last that long. I was able to get up early enough opening day to make a 10:35am showing, when AMC costs $6. The theater was surprisingly non-empty, and I settled in to watch. The crossword titles were cute. But then... Ouch! The umbrella is a minor plot point (Steve loans it to her, and she carries it around for the rest of the movie), and the character Mary has a lot of books, but any resemblance to me ends there (well, she does talk to her hamster, but he's not a stuffed lamb). Which is good, because Mary is extremely annoying. The filmmakers' idea of a smart person is one who spouts unnecessary long words and trivia facts nonstop, and has no sense of what's socially appropriate. Crossword homilies are awkwardly interspersed (though it's cool that Manny Nosowsky and Will are quoted by name). The plot: Mary essentially stalks Steve and follows him from story to story, is egged on by his anchor colleague, and then becomes part of the news herself when (while running and waving to Steve) she falls into the same mine as some deaf children (I'd say SPOILER ALERT, but does anyone really care?). Along the way she meets some kindred spirits, including a former physicist who carves apples (DJ Qualls, pretty cute actually). This is self-conscious quirkiness with a capital Q (someone's favorite letter! No, that wasn't in this movie). There's a disclaimer at the end that the characters are not based on anyone living or dead. I saw an interview where Bullock said she partially based Mary on a 3 1/2 year-old girl. I don't know any crossword constructor or solver who is anything like this character. At least we hope we aren't! I found a copy of the script, which differs from the final movie but gives a flavor of some of the awful dialogue. The first weekend box office came to $13.9 million, more than "Wordplay" took in its entire summer-fall 2006 run ($3.1 million). (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, September 6th, 2009
3:41 pm	Good and bad My desktop PC got the nasty Police Pro virus last week. I clicked on a web site generated in a Google search which turned out not to be the site it said it was, and before I knew it stuff was being downloaded. McAfee caught it and asked if I wanted to block or allow, and when I said "block" I got the Windows blue screen of death. It's unclear whether this was the real screen or a fake generated by the virus. I could reboot, but after that everything was shot to hell. Programs wouldn't run, annoying windows popped up, safe mode wouldn't work, the virus files couldn't be deleted, McAfee and system restore were disabled... oy it's terrible. The malware masquerades as an antivirus program but is very much the opposite. Luckily I also have the iBook (and some programs like IE do still run on the PC). In researching the problem, a program was mentioned as a legit removal tool. But running it did not completely eradicate the virus. Further research shows that perhaps another program would have been better, but my infected computer is not allowing me to run that. I've been working with tech support to fix things but we're not there yet. I really hope I can get my PC back. In better news, the long-awaited neighborhood Whole Foods finally opened. I've been there 4 times and it's gradually getting less overwhelming. This is about a zillion times better than anything else in the area. More stores are under construction including a Duane Reade, Borders and bank, which will make shopping so much more convenient. I'm still going to the small grocery for standard items, as I'd hate to see them go out of business. But Fresh Direct may suffer (WF has similar produce and meat/fish); I'm not sure how much I'll order from them after my delivery pass expires next spring. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
3:09 pm	Lollapuzzoola 8/22 I was an early follower of Ryan & Brian's crossword blog, and helped with their first tournament Lollapuzzoola I, last summer. This year, they wanted the higher-level solvers to compete in their own division, so I was coming as a competitor this time. Competing makes me nervous so I decided to wear my glasses and not stress myself out by not being able to see the puzzles (my contacts aren't great with small print). The down side is I look horrible in glasses. I was going to ride out on the subway with visiting bloggers Puzzle Girl and Rex Parker, but Dan Feyer offered us a ride so we took that. Thanks, Dan! The trip out passed quickly and we soon arrived at the church in Jackson Heights. This year, they used a much larger room in the basement (I couldn't quite figure out where last year's room was) because attendance was up substantially, from 30ish to 80ish. With the low entry fee (church basements cost a lot less than upscale hotels) and fun factor, it should be even more popular in the future (uh-oh, this basement isn't THAT big). Through my reading glasses, I vaguely saw many familiar faces which became clearer when I put on my similarly horrible-looking distance glasses. The field included former champ Stan Newman (retired from competition 20+ years), many New York-area A and B solvers, and likely future ACPT rookie winner Joon Pahk who I met for the first time. I sat in the back with Rex, PG and this year's C champion Mark Dixon. The scoring system was different than the ACPT, based on exact order of finish, with the lowest score dropped. Since I can't really sprint and do better on the hard puzzles, this did not favor me. We eased in with a fun audience participation puzzle by T McAy. I wasted time on the second puzzle trying to decide if a certain square was supposed to be blank. On the third puzzle, I didn't bother with the extra aspect but did recognize the song on the first note. Lunch was picked up from a Subway (blah), and I played Montreal Jewish Geography with Crosscan, who is originally from there. He's around the same age as my (now-deceased) cousin, but we couldn't find any obvious links. The fourth puzzle, designed as a killer, wasn't that hard for me, and I was third to finish. Before the last puzzle, R&B acted out movie titles and I was ready to write them right in, but accidentally put an extra letter in the first title, erased it and then thought maybe the titles had to be altered. Then I was wrong on the title about snakes (oops, not the plane), and wasted more time erasing a letter in another title to make it clearer even though it was probably OK as is. So that was my lowest, dropped puzzle. I was talking to Joon about the erasure during the break, and we realized it made a cute pun on the real title which could be fodder for a crossword theme. He later came up with more theme entries and constructed a puzzle, which I clued (and he revised). We've submitted it to Will, but I don't know if it will see print. The results were announced, and I wasn't in the top 3. Turns out I was tied for fifth with Adam Cohen, with Stan right behind. If the lowest score hadn't been dropped, I would have done slightly better, alone in fifth. In a tournament that's basically a speed race, I'm fine with those results. The final puzzle just appeared in Saturday's NYT. I finished it in about 7 minutes in my seat, a little faster than winner Dan (Francis was a few seconds behind, with Howard taking more time), but it's always easier sitting down than in front of the crowd. Dan won a lovely mosaic of a puzzle that had been handed out with the rules. There was a pizza party afterward, and I went up to the table and took a plain slice before realizing there was actually a line. By then I already had one slice so also got my white slice. Sorry if I deprived anyone of the white (which was delicious!). Reports soon appeared online, with tons of photos of me in horrible-looking glasses (I am NOT providing links). Oh well, it was still fun. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
3:04 am	Theater Update Coming soon: reports on Lollapuzzoola and the Millionaire reunion, but first I'll recap some shows. It continues to bother me that rock concerts and stage musicals pump up the volume way too high. I'm still investigating earplugs, but it's annoying that they're necessary. I never have this problem with classical concerts. Not too loud was Series A of Summer Shorts at 59E59. They included Nancy Giles' warm and charming take on black hair products, the experiences of a recent widow, a couple about to embark on a vacation tryst (or are they?), and another couple celebrating an anniversary (or are they?) in song. Despite the mixed reviews, I found this and its companion Series B satisfying evenings of theater. I think I only saw part of the movie "9 to 5" on TV, and it didn't leave much of an impression. Still, I was up for seeing the Broadway musical before it closes on 9/6. The show was fast-moving, with scenery constantly rising up and changing to depict a 1979 office and other locations. Megan Hilty, who played the Dolly Parton character, was terrific, and Allison Janney, while not the greatest singer, humanly portrayed Violet. We had understudy Gaelen Gilliland for the Jane Fonda character, and she was excellent. Dolly Parton's songs were not particularly memorable (sorry, Dolly - luv ya anyway), and I didn't appreciate the "stoned scene" (ick, drunk scenes), but overall lots of fun. Even more fun (in fact, a complete hoot) was "The Toxic Avenger" at New World Stages. I was going to say the music by Bon Jovi member David Bryan wasn't memorable, but hearing it again on a fan site I remember it (UPDATE: I'm listening to the soundtrack on Rhapsody and loving it). The energetic cast including Idol contestant Diana DeGarmo were all great (5 people played multiple parts), and everything was over-the-top in a good way. Don't see this if you're offended by blind jokes. I also saw "Eat, Drink and Be Merry" (Fringe Festival) produced by NPLer Blackpool. Outside the theater he introduced me to a man who I later learned was the author/composer. The show followed a couple "Adam and Eve" through time, especially highlighting their relation to food. The cast was talented (the tall, thin redheaded emcee reminded me of BEQ), the costumes were fun and colorful, and I was humming the last song all the way home which is more than I can say for "9 to 5" (sorry, Dolly). I still hope to get to Fringe plays with my cousin Rachel and ennirol. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
10:56 am	Must be a slow news day Sibling Rivalry Arises Between Tori Spelling's Kids (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
12:39 am	Raspberry Passion juice makes up for MoMA sell-out Yuck, it's hot! My apartment is a southern exposure and heats up like an oven. I have an air conditioner but it's not very effective so I try to be out in better air-conditioning whenever possible. On Tuesday night, I went to my third Mostly Mozart concert of the season. I got there early so I could make the most of the open preconcert seating, and sat in the third row, aisle seat, of the left section, with a prime view of the piano. Shortly before showtime, a couple came who had that seat for the regular concert. We explained it's open seating, but the man indignantly said he wanted to sit in HIS seat, so I said, "Fine!" and moved (even though I was within my rights to stay put - early bird catches the worm!) and went a few rows back, further left. The first seat I tried had a blocked view so I continued moving left until I could see. Meanwhile, the people next to where I was (a group of 2 couples) did NOT generously move, so the ticketholders apparently went to get an usher. Whatever, I didn't see them again. And then someone came and sat in my old seat. Oh well. I just did not want to argue with that man. The preconcert was young pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk. playing Chopin and the mind-boggling "Mephisto Waltz" by Liszt. For the rest of the concert, my ticketed seat was the rightmost seat in row V. I could have moved to an upper tier to see the piano but didn't want to make waves and stayed. The conductor liked the last movement of the first piece so much he had the orchestra play it again! Soloist Jeffrey Kahane was smooth in a Mozart piano concerto I wasn't familiar with. Nice, cultured evening after that rocky beginning. I learned from his Facebook status that former NYT employee J was also there, but I didn't see him. I left to bolts of lightning and claps of thunder, and nixed the idea of walking to my next stop, the Times (puzzles were ready that afternoon). I exited the subway to water cascading down the stairs. What a relief to get inside! No big problems, but the late start meant I didn't finish until 3am (but I preferred to get it over with Tuesday in order to leave Wednesday free). And I had only eaten grapes all day, so had to belatedly have dinner after cabbing it home. I took the lazy way out and boiled up some frozen pierogies. Because Wednesday was clear, I was free to go to a matinee and chose "A Lifetime Burning" at 59E59. This was in a larger theater than the shorts series (I'll be seeing the other shorts series in a few days). Quite a nice space. The play was about a James Frey-like author (Jennifer Westfeldt) who writes a dubious memoir and the impact on her sister and her editor (all wonderfully played), with a flashback to her relationship with a young Hispanic guy she tutors. Lots of New York and media references. It flagged just a bit at the end. Next, I planned to see "Casino Royale" at 4 and "Blade Runner" at 6:30 at MoMA, but I walked over just before 4 to find both sold out! So I went home, stopping for groceries on the way . They had Minute Maid Light Raspberry Passion, for the first time in months! I got 2. I was planning to read on the terrace but never got around to it (I suppose I still could). I have a backlog of online puzzles going from June, so it might be nice to solve them to prepare for Lollapuzzoola. Speed solvers were asked to compete, and I can't decide if I should be serious about it (wear glasses, bring portable light) or just wear contacts, maybe not see too well, and have fun. Serious is winning. (Comment on this)