Putting the "blah blah blah" in blog

Rent

Fri, 04 May 2012 04:21:48 GMT

I'm very late to the party, but finally saw "Rent" (at New World Stages, in the same exact theater that housed "Toxic Avenger") Sunday night. The play itself was OK, but I really loved the score. Had only previously heard "Seasons of Love." I went home and stayed up until dawn listening to the soundtrack 3 times in a row (on Rhapsody - twice from the Broadway show, once from the movie; prefer the show). I'm listening to it again now. Want to get the piano book, but need to compare the show and movie versions and check out the arrangements.

As with "Toxic Avenger," I'll surely see "Rent" again, now that I'm familiar with the music.

Conceptual Home

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:21:10 GMT

57 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights was where my parents lived when they were first married (my father's old bachelor apartment), and I lived as an infant. I realized while lying awake Friday night just steps away at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott, that this also must be where I was conceived in July of 1951. Surreal!

during lunch break at the tournament, 2008

infant En in 1952

Resting puzzle hands with music

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 04:42:56 GMT

I never got around to blogging the last 2 ACPTs in detail (world's worst blogger!), and here we are on the eve of another one. I'm always a nervous wreck. My skills have eroded a bit with age (I have a big birthday next month), but with a few top people not coming this year, who knows what's possible? I encourage all A's and B's not to compete so victory can again be mine <evil grin>.

I always have some puzzle books going around the house (have completed several books I also need to blog about. Yeesh), but hadn't downloaded any online puzzles since last spring (oops). I learned that the Merl Reagle and Boston Globe puzzles now keep only one month of archives. So does the LA Times, but I can get those from uClick (paid subscription). I downloaded what I could but won't have time to do them all. I should be solving on paper, but I've done so many puzzles my hands hurt. Even the online puzzles hurt my hands (sucks to get old), and I'm wearing one of those wrist gloves. So I need a break.

My escape drug of choice has always been music, so I hit Rhapsody. I was thinking about my favorite female singer, Patti Austin, who was on Quincy Jones' wonderful "The Dude" album, so played that. I suddenly remembered hearing Patti singing "I.G.Y." on an obscure late-night show with David Sanborn, and Googling found the clip (1988). Then I found this great live version of "Razzmatazz". Oh, and there she is more recently at Quincy's 75th birthday concert. Why isn't this woman more famous? I always felt she could sing rings around Whitney (still sad about Whitney's death; such lost potential).

I was supposed to see Patti live at the Nokia a year or so ago, but she canceled due to illness. Turns out she's singing Friday at Carnegie Hall. Darn! Very tempting, but I already made tournament plans.

One of the Brothers Johnson was in the band on the "Razzmatazz" clip, so after the Patti festival, I listened to their greatest hits album (which I also own on CD). Love them! I always use "Stomp" to test speakers, headphones, etc.

I have more music-related bloggery (on the eve of Whitney's funeral, I saw Aretha live at Radio City!) but this entry is long enough so that'll have to wait.

Books I never finished reading

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:03:27 GMT

I need to remember that it's OK to abandon a book. I tend to read on and on, hoping (usually in vain) it will get better. Recently, I didn't finish the following books:

"Circles" by Abigail McCarthy - The wife of Senator Eugene wrote this 1977 novel about Washington. The language seemed stiff, and I gave up after 32 pages.

"Ask Again Later" by Jill A. Davis - This may be a perfectly good book, but when the narrator's mother got sick, I had to stop reading (my mother died last year).

"Hollywood Savage" by Kristin McCloy - Usually I like novels about Hollywood, but couldn't get into this one. The pace was slow and the diary format, with clipped language, was off-putting. Miles is stranded in Hollywood working on a script, thinking his wife back in New York is having an affair. He meets a woman who seems intriguing, but I don't know (or care) what happened because I stopped on p. 44.

"Person of Interest" by Theresa Schwegel - I haven't watched the TV show of the same name, but based on its description, don't think it's related to this book. I wasn't riveted by this story of an undercover Chicago cop, his wife and teenage daughter, and stopped after 70 pages.

"The Rhinestone Sisterhood" by David Valdes Greenwood - I read 172 pages of this nonfiction look at beauty queens in small-town Louisiana, but just wasn't invested in these people or their activities. As an urban nerd, maybe I'm not the best audience for this book.

"Great Books" by David Denby - Film critic David Denby re-takes the Columbia College core courses 30 years later. I did finish this book, but skimmed over the discussion of the actual literature, which was just too intellectual for me. Yeah, I'm shallow. Since I went to Barnard, I did enjoy the glimpses of life at Columbia. I'm giving this book to my nephew, who is bound for U. of Chicago which has a similar core.

Might as well finish the old diary

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:35:16 GMT

The entries in the childhood diary got very sparse. Sometimes I wrote "Dear Diary" at the top with no entry, and there are lots of blank pages.

4/1/60: Today is April Fools day. I April fooled mommy. I told her her dress was torn. Evelyn [housekeeper] April fooled me. She called me up. I made some magazines. They were the "Calling All's." Like, "Calling All Linda's."

4/4: We had our carpet delivered.

4/5: Our carpet was put down. Nana came back from her cruise. She went to Nassau, Kingston, Jamacia, and Curaco.

4/29: I went to brownies today. We're doing a play called the Seven Plea's. It's done in pantomime. Then we went outside. My friends and I wanted to get some balls so we went inside but the door to the place where the balls were was locked, but B found a secret entrance so we got the balls and went outside, but then our brownie leader told us to put our balls back because the costodian found out. [what a sentence!] But then some boys bothered us and they almost saw B's underpants.

4/30: We took our bikes outside for the first time.

5/5: I got a haircut.

6/23: Today is the day before the last day of school. Today I brought home my folder, my crayons, and my notebook.

10/22: Today I had a piano lesson. The songs I had were [songs]. Linda and I thougt we saw a kidnapper, but now I doubt it [!!]. A and her friends tried to capture us, but we got away. I played Chienese Jump Rope with S and I got up to Frontsy. We were going to make Halloween pictures, but we didn't make them, because we couldn't find paint.

10/23: S came over today. We played Chienese [same wrong spelling as above] Jump Rope and Hopscotch and Star Reporter and Dear Diary. You played that with a ball and bounce it.

10/24: I have a cold so I can't go to school today. I'm watching T.V. now and I'm watching a show called Fun at One. I think it's a very babyish show, but there's nothing else good on so I have to watch it.

11/17: Mommy came to school today to see me work. She saw Spelling Test, Book Reports, Newstime Reports, Music, Gym, and that's all. Then I went to a birthday party. It was L's party. Her Aunt Cookie was there. She is a stage entertainer. She taught us how to Cha-Cha. Then, everybody had to speak or sing alone into the microphone. I told a joke. We had spagetti & meatballs for dinner. The present I gave her was "Foto Fun." Her Aunt Cookie did the Cha-Cha and the Mambo for us.

12/31: Tonight Felice is sleeping over at our house, by the way Linda and I are on a diet. We have one speical treat day a week.

1/31/61: Today was my brownie (59!) troops talent show. I played the piano. I played Theme from No. 3 and J announced it "Theme from Loberstreen." I also played A little polish dance. The piano was a little out of tune.

2/1: There is a terrible snowstorm going on now. It was 2 below zero yesterday at dawn. I am sick right now.

2/23: Today we're having our winter vacation and went to see a movie called 101 Dalmations. It was in color. We came back at 9:30. I had matzoh and orange juice for a snack. Right now it's 10 to 10. I had dinner in a diner called The Frontier [in Glen Cove]. I had roast beef, peas, spinach leaves, and red jellow. Daddy & Mommy didn't want their peas, so I ate their peas. Linda & Daddy had hamburgers (charcoal broiled), Mommy had pork chops in tomato sauce. Linda and mommy had cheese cake for dessert. We all had salad with a good dressing on it. The movie was in the Cove. It took place in London.

3/7: Today I didn't go to school. I went to the lab on Middle Neck Rd. to get a blood test. It was a different kind of needle that looked like tinfoil. Since I didn't talk or scream when I had the test so mommy gave me the choice of a Barby Game or a charge account game. Daddy left both games in his car but he came home at 5:00. I chose the Barby Game. I will get the charge account game for my birthday. Both games were supposed to be for my birthday.

12/1: Today we went to the photographers to have our picture taken. His name is Henri Millaire. Today we had music. We didn't have assembly because the 6th graders are rehearsing for the Christmas Program. [I think this is the picture:]

12/2: Today S came over. We rehearsed book club reports. We also made posters. I started Maida's Little Shop for about the 20th time, it seems. We all saw Huckleberry Finn on T.V. today. Right now it is 10:00 P.M. and Dance Party was just over. For our snacks we had frozen vanilla Metrical.

12/3: Right now Mommy & Daddy are at a formal. The Formal is at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. It is for the hospital. Right now it is 9:20 P.M. We are watching the Groucho Marks show. There is a man there who weighs 387 pounds. He comes from Sweden and Groucho keeps thinking he is from Japan. The real estate section was not very good today. [I used to cut out house plans for "Fingertown"] Today we found out that the Herald Tribune comics are in black and white. The secret word on Groucho Marks show is "Chair." No one has said it yet. For snack I had Vanilla Cherry, Lemon Chiffon, and Chocolate. Linda had the same snack as me, except instead of lemon she had Coffee. [Metricals?]

5/1/62: Today we had our big cleanup for our room. L lent me more comic books. I don't really think it is fair or honest, but it isn't too illegal. [Huh? Did I think everyone should buy their own comic books?] We had language in the Iowa tests today. P.S. I got a new American Girl [magazine] today (May, 1962).

12/27: I had a piano lesson today. [lists songs] Christmas was Tuesday. I got Golferino, a bike, a sweater, a beauty parlor doll, "pjs" (pajamas), a toilet paper holder, $4, and a perfume kit. I gave Aunt Pauline & Uncle Mack My son, the folk singer. Mommy, a ribbon basket for candy, Daddy, a pencil holder. Nana, a tray. Papa, a pen & pencil set (pink!). Linda, two Barbie dresses, and Evelyn, a powder jar. It is 3:00.

More from Little En, 1960

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:26:36 GMT

2/1/60: We got sterio

2/4: Mommy went to a concert

2/5: N came over today.

2/10: I went to M's house for lunch.

2/11: I went to the dentist and to M's for lunch.

2/16: L came over.

2/19: Mommy had a dance lesson in our house.

2/26: L slept over tonight. She made a fortune teller for us.

2/27: Felice (our cousin) slept over.

2/28: I ate dinner at Nana's house today.

2/29: I went to the eye docter. I have to wear glasses. And I went to have them fitted.

3/1: I ate lunch at I's house.

3/2: We went to M's house.

3/3: We had a bad snow storm. [research shows NYC got 14.5"]

3/4: I got glasses

3/6: I ate lunch out.

3/7: I had library today. I only took out one book. It was called Henry Huggins.

3/8: Today I went to S's house.

3/9: Linda can be a brownie.

3/10: I went to get more glasses.

3/13: I ate dinner at Nana's house.

3/14: The light's blew out for a hour and a half.

3/15: I saw a movie in school

3/16: I had half a day in school

3/17: A lady from the girl scout house called and said I could be a brownie in troop 59. Meetings are on Friday.

3/18: I had brownies today. We made tamborines. Brownie dues are 10 cents.

3/20: I went to J's birthday party today.

3/23: Mommy had a conference with Miss Salami, the speech teacher.

3/24: Mommy had a conference with my teacher, Miss McCann. P.S. I got a good report.

3/25: Nana went on a cruise today. We went to see her off, that is we see the ship. It was a lot of fun. The ship was called "Nieuw (New) Amsterdam."

3/28: I went to E's birthday party today. A lot of my friends were there. [this is my next-door neighbor E]

3/29: It's my Aunt Pauline and my cousin Felice's birthday. Felice is twelve years old. I don't know how old Aunt Pauline is.

3/31: I got the chickenpox today.

[omitted more piano lessons and library]

Beatlemania, 1964

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:20:02 GMT

I have a "Math Notebook" from 7th grade where not much math was getting done. I loved Mr. Grosso's class and did well, but much of the notebook is devoted to doodles (I was not a great artist and could only draw girls' heads) and Beatlemania.

In case you can't see, within their faces it says "I Love Paul," "George is Eh," "I like Ringo" and "I hate John." Sorry, George and John. Note "Love to Lovey" in the Paul section, an homage to the alleged autograph.

I also wrote a composition about Paul, just for myself and not for school. Given recent behavior around Paul, there's still a lot of the silly 12-year-old in me.

He didn't really write "Love to Lovey"?

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 05:36:52 GMT

Update on some Paul McCartney memorabilia discussed earlier:

I always wondered if the Beatles autographs my British pen pal Joan sent were real. Joan said in a letter dated 2/8/64 that she'd gone to the airport and gotten autographs. The Beatles actually were at the London airport on 2/5 (coming back from Paris) and 2/7 (going to the U.S.). It's possible she was there, but the signatures looked too neat to have been scrawled in an airport with hundreds of screaming fans. It did look a bit like their handwriting, but also a bit like Joan's handwriting.

I recently found the autograph book and decided to get it checked out, as all four Beatles signatures on one page is now worth quite a bit (and probably more if anyone else dies). I found a service that evaluates autographs based on a scan, for $7. They have experience with Beatles. To get a certificate of authenticity would cost $70 + certified postage, so I just did the scan. The result:

The Beatles signatures (all Four) in autograph book::

Not likely to be genuine: Our authenticators believe that the item, if physically submitted for examination, would likely not receive our certificate of authenticity.

**Please note this based upon a scan. The only way to truly examine and authenticate an autograph is to physically examine the signature, the ink and the item that has been signed.

* * *
I'm impressed that they didn't say it looked real, thus encouraging me to pay more to send it in and get the certificate.

As contrast, here's an authentic (according to the Web) set of Beatles autographs:

The little square of sheet that Paul allegedly slept on did come with a letter of authenticity; at least, he was in the hotel at that time.

The Way-Way-Way-Back Machine

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:13:12 GMT

My 1969 diary was not the first one I ever kept. I found a shiny gold diary from 1960-62. It's mostly January-April 1960 when I was 7-8 years old, so it's pretty simple. Mostly, I went to the library and took out x books, or had a piano lesson and studied y pieces. The entries all say "Dear Diary" and "Love, Ellen" and are in pencil, usually printed but sometimes in script. Here are some excerpts (will initial most names, did not correct spelling) [current comments in brackets]:

1/1: I had a very Happy New Year. A lot of our relatives came over, and on Christmas we got bikes and we're riding them today. [We were Jewish but usually exchanged presents on Christmas, since it was easier to get the family together.]

1/4: School vacation is over and I went back to school. I had fun at school. I had Library today and I took out [books]. I got a haircut.

1/5: I went to school again today and my class saw a movie called Air Around Us. I do have a lot of enemies, their names are [9 boys and 1 girl], That Boy and that's all. Linda is partly an enemy [Oy. Sorry, sis!]. My class did some air experiments, here is one of them. You take a glass, put a tissue in it so it won't fall out. Then turn it upside down and put it in water, then when you take it out it'll be dry.

1/6: I did something funny today, but after a while I thought I shouldn't have done that. I took some of Kathy's things (Kathy is a girl in my class). I took her dictionary work and her pencil. [Sorry, Kathy, what was I thinking?!] In class we learned some script letters, they were a & n. I had speech and gym today. We played a game called Kick It and Run in gym. I made a home run.

1/7: Kathy found out about the dictionary papers but not about the pencil. I saw a movie called Air is All Around Us [different than Air Around Us?]. It was very good. I watched a lot of good programs on telivision. I ate lunch at school today and I sat next to B and L at table number four.

1/8: I had an exciting day today. In school I learned two more letters in script, they were c & m. Kathy found out about the pencil. I signed my name in Kathy's brownie autograph book.

[I found this note, which I must have not sent:]

1/9/60: Today is Nana's birthday. Nana went on Dance Party last night. Dance Party is a show on channel 13. M came over.

1/10: I played house up in the playing room. I went to Nana's house and ate dinner there.

1/11: Mommy went to the Girl Scout House today to register us as brownies. Linda might be one, but they don't know about me. I went bicycle riding today. I watched Telivision too.

1/14: I had Music in school today. At night, I went out to dinner. I saw a movie too. It was called Gigi. After that, I went to Steffens and had a snack.

1/15: I made (my class made) a telephone and my class got their first call today. [no idea how we did this]

1/16: I ate dinner at a friend's house. Her name was M. Then I went to sleep over with my sister Linda at Nana's house. Nana is our grandmother. I had a good time.

1/17: I went to my Aunt Marion's house. I watched my cousin Arthur play his French horn while my Aunt Rhoda played the piano to his song.

1/19: I had a very big splinter. Daddy didn't take it out yet.

1/21: I went over to L's (a girl in my class) house. We played house and she was playing with her doll while I read her brownie handbook.

1/22: S (a girl in my class) came over. We watched T.V.

1/24: I went ice skating with Daddy and Linda. Aunt Helen came.

1/26: L came. We played with dolls.

1/27: I went ice skating with D. I had fun.

1/29: I went to R's birthday party. [R was one of the boys listed as an enemy above.]

1/30: Nana Birdie came here. I had a piano lesson. The names of the songs were [songs].

1/31: Nothing special happened today. [There were increasingly more entries like this, to the point I just wrote "N.H." for nothing happened.]
* * *
That's enough for now. I omitted a few more library trips and piano lessons.

Identity theft apparently did not exist in 1969

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 01:33:40 GMT

I found a spiral-bound notebook from freshman year of college where I recorded assignments, reminders, etc. I carried this everywhere. Inside the front cover were listed:

Home address and phone
School address and phone
Mailbox number and combination
Gym locker number and combination
Bank account number
Social Security number

Yeesh. Good thing it wasn't stolen.

Not completely hunky-dory

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:02:15 GMT

While we were waiting for the windows, my neighbor mentioned a laptop was stolen from someone during installation. They think it might have been an opportunist who walked in amid the hubbub. I immediately worried about my laptop, which was hidden in a sealed area, but it was still there when I returned. To get it, someone would have to not only break the plastic wall but move a lot of stuff to find it (I'm being purposely vague about where it was hidden). Or maybe they did find it and put it back since it's 7 years old and hardly state-of-the-art.

While the laptop appeared to be untouched, last night I noticed that the one thing in the entire apartment that wasn't sheathed in plastic was gone: some bells hanging from the front doorknob (which would jangle if anyone tried to come in). They are not costly, but have sentimental value - now-deceased NPLer Twisto got them in China and gave them to me on my 40th birthday. As mentioned earlier, I'm also pretty sure the workers opened the seal to use the bathroom, but the Beatles box sets I threw under a chair in that hallway are still there (and hopefully so are the contents of two Miami boxes of clothes I haven't yet gone through, atop that chair - I can't see anyone wanting that stuff, but the bells aren't pricy so who knows). I put some jangly plastic beads on the doorknob and ordered new bells, just to have some continuity.

On Monday night I removed all the taped plastic tents, so while the plasterer was there Tuesday, everything was out in the open except for electronic items encased in loose plastic. However, I didn't notice anything else gone. Yesterday afternoon after he left I was lying contentedly on the still-bare (until the job is complete and I move some furniture back) tract of rug near the window with the sun streaming in, when I realized my skirt was wet. A patch of rug under me was soaking wet (apparently with water). Nothing was dripping from above (though when I got up on a chair and touched the ceiling it left a line of dust, so I'll have to sweep the ceiling and walls). I lifted the rug up and a spot of wood floor underneath was also wet, but this was probably from the rug. I wiped the floor dry and left a bowl there just in case, but everything was dry this morning. So hopefully the plasterer just spilled some water.

Luckily these aren't huge hassles. I'm still nervous that more could be missing, and am kicking myself for not being there to watch (though if it happened Monday, I would have hated being present during the very noisy and dusty work). I'm the type of person who doesn't leave my pocketbook unattended for a second, and double-locks the door to take the garbage down the hall. (Note to potential burglars: I'm just being paranoid; my possessions aren't particularly valuable unless you're into chick-lit books, semi-old magazines, and Nana clothes.)

Life in my building

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:30:25 GMT

The new windows are in, and they plastered today. Last step is Friday or Monday. It's gone fairly smoothly. No word on when screens are coming, and the blinds can't be put back until then, so I'll have to live with blanket, towel, and/or brown paper covering the windows for a while.

The best byproduct is that I've met more neighbors the last 2 days than in the prior 36 years. Because my neighbor down the hall has an elderly mother in a wheelchair, they were allowed to spend installation day in a basement conference room I never knew existed. We were talking as we opened our doors to let the workers in, so they had me join them. Today, I sat in the lobby during the plastering (it wasn't as messy or noisy, but I'd rather not be around) and met several other neighbors waiting out their window installation. All had been in the building a long time and we never saw each other before (partly because we're on low floors and don't often take the elevator).

In the spirit of housecleaning, I finally trashed my childhood bed that's sat in the closet since 1987, and a dilapidated bedroom couch that basically served as a book repository. NYC requires these to be wrapped, so I used some plastic sheeting on the couch, and bought bed bags for the mattress/box spring. I had to tip a worker to carry them out, as well as tip the plasterer (who rang the bell after he was done to ask if he did a good job - I hadn't been there when he finished. The work appears to be OK, but I was kind of forced to tip), and 2 other guys when they hung up the plastic (the concierge sent them up Friday morning - I was struggling, and this was a huge help). Turns out the guys came back at 8:30 am on windows day to help me finish; we couldn't seal off the bed, computer area, and bathroom since I had to live there, but I was unclear if they were coming back and had already done it. Total tips: $110.

I'll clean up more when the job is complete, but I haven't noticed the massive dust some are complaining about. However, the workers apparently broke the seal in the bathroom hallway to use the bathroom, as an untaped closet in that area blew out dust when I opened the door. Grrr, should have taped it anyway (the untaped bedroom closet inside a tented area was fine). Still, not too bad.

Found out from a neighbor that the guy on the other side of my terrace divider feeds birds, which explains their recent influx and the associated droppings (ugh). I don't have the heart to complain about him, since he's disabled and this is one of his few pleasures in life. They suggested using a fake owl to scare birds away. Speaking of wildlife, I hear there are rats in the parking lot at night (shudder), and my neighbor had a BAT fly in!

Windows and books, story of my life

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 08:05:44 GMT

Today would have been Mommy's 83rd birthday (moment of silence).

In preparation for Monday's window installation (which generates massive dust), I've been busy taping plastic sheets from floor to ceiling with blue painter's tape (harder than I thought - the drop cloths are the consistency of saran wrap, the tape keeps sticking to itself, and it's hard to work on the ceiling from a precarious stepstool). I've done almost all the bookcases and part of the large living room area I want to block off. As I walk by the rustling plastic, I yell, "Stay up!" since I don't think I did a great job. I need to find the porter tomorrow to make sure I'm on the right track, and have given the workers enough room.

Can't do the bedroom until the last minute since I need to live here, so I'll have to get up around 3 am to finish (they come at 7:30), when I'm usually not even asleep yet. Ugh. Or maybe I should sleep in the bathtub? Plus they ran out of brown paper to cover the windows (supplies were supposed to be available all weekend), and since they removed the blinds Wednesday you can see right in (I'm on a low floor). I taped a blanket to the bedroom window and a towel to the living room.

Small plus - they unstuck my bedroom closet door (also Wednesday) so I can now close it, and just need to throw some tape over the edges to seal it (after removing any clothes I plan to wear). I have a list of 21 things to do before Monday (down from 26, so I've done a little). Not to mention all the moving around of stuff already done in the recent past.

Still haven't removed the books from the couch and turned it on its side (it better stay up, too!). Probably won't blog about all of those books (which I've divided into 7 groups) this weekend so some will end up temporarily under the bed. I've already sealed off the shelf where I store books to trade away, but there's room on a rolling cart for books I'm keeping so I'll talk about some of those:

"Tan Lines" by J.J. Salem - A decadent rock star, feminist commentator, and actress (really sugar daddy's mistress) share a place in the Hamptons and... things happen. Unabashedly trashy, and I loved it. The author's next book was supposed to be "Bikini Wax" but he just came out with "The Strip," so I'm not sure if the title changed.

"Save As Draft" by Cavanaugh Lee - Told entirely in e-mails, text messages and other electronic communication, this novel traces the life and loves of a young lawyer. Lightning fast read.

"Courting Kathleen Hannigan" by Mary Hutchings Reed - Another lawyer. The more I read about the practice of law, the more I know I'd hate to be a lawyer. That doesn't stop me from loving books like this, about office politics, trials (groan) and tribulations.

"The Manny" by Holly Peterson - You tell a story about rich Manhattanites, I'm there. In this one, a high-powered news producer thinks her son needs more male guidance (husband is distracted with his own career) and hires a "manny" who happens to be gorgeous, sensitive, and about to take off with his own high-tech company. You can guess what happens. Pretty good. I had the U.K. edition, so the language was almost quaint.

"When Harry Hit Hollywood" by Mara Goodman-Davies - Rich people in Hollywood, another favorite topic of mine. Notorious billionaire bachelor Harry marries Jessica (no pauper herself), and creates a stir. I read this a while ago and don't remember much of the plot, but I liked it enough to want to read the previous book about these characters.

"The Hole We're In" by Gabrielle Zevin - I saw Zevin's movie "Conversations With Other Women" and heard the author herself during Spirit Awards season a few years ago. This novel is about the Pomeroy family, who struggle to make ends meet. I liked the beginning segment on the family's crazy debt more than the end focusing on the Iraq War-vet daughter.

"Lost and Found" by Carolyn Parkhurst - Pairs compete on a reality show much like "The Amazing Race." I like the real show and this was just as much fun.

"Little Pink Slips" by Sally Koslow - A magazine gets taken over by an eccentric celebrity and mayhem ensues. The author was formerly editor-in-chief at McCall's, which was renamed Rosie after new boss Rosie O'Donnell... but this may be purely coincidental.

"The Spellman Files" by Lisa Lutz - The Spellmans are a quirky family of San Francisco private investigators. The characters are funny, original, and not always angels. Looking forward to other books in this series.

Puzzles - punny and otherwise

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 06:29:44 GMT

I don't know how the bloggers do it. I find it hard to write about puzzles. I finished these books:

"Simon & Schuster Mega Crossword Puzzle Book #9" (ed. John Samson) - With 300 puzzles, these books are so large I may never catch up (I still have #5-8 and 11 to do). I saved some puzzles with errors, but despite that, this is a decent series:

DIANES clued as "Feinstein and Fossey," who are actually Dianne and Dian
"Momma's triplets?" for ENS
Title "Dry Hard" where DY is added to theme entries (am I not getting something?)
Both "Actor Omar" for EPPS and "'House' actor Epps" for OMAR appear in opposite areas of the same crossword (worse, a 2001 TV Guide puzzle contains "Rin Tin ___ K-9 Cop" and "TV canine ___ Tin Tin" crossing each other!)
"Like many business cars" for LEAST. Well, it works phonetically
"The Chiffons' '___ Fine'" for HESSSO (oops!)

Also edited by John Samson is "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader Crossword Puzzles." At my level, I shouldn't be buying books for 5th graders, so I can't really complain that these weren't crosswords but quizlike criss-crosses. I was going to return the book, but decided these puzzles on topics like explorers, capitals, aviation, math, antonyms, etc. couldn't hurt. It was OK. Still, it's better suited for less hardcore solvers.

"The New York Times Crossword Puzzle-a-Day 1995 Calendar" (ed. Eugene T. Maleska) - Although the calendar was released in 1994 at the beginning of the Shortz era, Googling showed the puzzles were actually from 1987 though they don't correspond to the exact dates. This sat on my dining room table forever as I inched through it (there are 6 15x15 puzzles/week), relieved to finally finish December. The type was small (it's a desk calendar) and the clues were often old-fashioned crosswordese. Not a snappy experience, but not horrible.

I started Richard Lederer and Gayle Dean's "Merriam-Webster's Word Play Crosswords" vol. 1 a while ago and found the puzzles a bit "off" and not always accurate, and only resumed recently. There is a volume 2, but I have enough other puzzles to do. Some of the weird puns:

"What a dog who is not up to scratch will do?" FLEE
"Relative in Cannes?" NICE
"Twiggy: a ___ and a lack?" LASS
"Comedy of Eros?" LOVE
"Sin caused a lump in his throat?" ADAM
"TAMER clone?" RAMET

To be fair, these do have question marks and the puzzles are supposed to be punny. And I just looked up new-to-me word RAMET and it means "an independent member of a clone" (oh, OK).

"Brain Games Celebrity Puzzles" by Rhonda Markowitz (puzzles by Myles Callum, Mark Danna, Ray Hamel, Alan Olschwang, Stephen Ryder; additional puzzle editing by Trip Payne) - This reminded me of the People Magazine puzzle collections, with crosswords, acrostics and a few variety puzzles. The puzzles are straightforward and not very exciting, but competent and feature intros packed with celebrity facts.

How's that book cleaning thing going?

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:39:18 GMT

Well, I've been blogging up a storm about all the books I've read and they're flying off the table. Oh wait...

If I don't finish before the window replacement, I'll just have to box these books in a separate place. I've done a ton of rearranging, sorting, moving, cleaning, clearing throughout the apartment, and it looks like I've done nothing. Two weeks to go.

This set of books is college-related. My own experience applying to college was memorable and I like reading about this topic, as well as what happens once you're in college.

"Acceptance: A Legendary Guidance Counselor Helps Seven Kids Find the Right Colleges - and Find Themselves" by David Marcus - This is a nonfiction account of some students at Oyster Bay High and their counselor Gwyeth Smith, but it reads like a novel. Loved it.

"The Price of Admission" by Daniel Golden - If only I'd known I'd be a future crossword champion, I probably would have gotten into the schools that rejected me (Will Shortz's proteges do extremely well in college admissions). Or perhaps if a parent was a huge celebrity, active legacy alum, or zillionaire. Or if I'd played an obscure sport (nope, crosswords aren't a sport). This book talks about all those things (not the crossword angle). It's a little disheartening, but that's reality. As an example not discussed in the book - assuming she's remotely qualified, would any college reject Emma Watson? Yet I have my doubts she'll return to graduate Brown. Many of these child stars leave to continue their careers (hello, Olsens!), which admittedly are more happening than sitting in a classroom.

"Jane Austen in Scarsdale: Or Love, Death, and the SATs" by Paula Marantz Cohen - This is part of a series of modern novels based on Jane Austen works, in this case "Persuasion." I saw and barely remember the movie, but still enjoyed the story of a Scarsdale college counselor dealing with her competitive charges, once-rich family, and former lover newly back in town (now attached, oh NO!).

"Restless Virgins: Love, Sex, and Survival at a New England Prep School" by Abigail Jones and Marissa Miley - This nonfiction look at Milton Academy barely fits in the college category. While the students do apply to and get accepted by colleges, most of their time seems to be spent hooking up and indulging in other teen behavior. Classes and studying are barely mentioned. Not my kind of place.

"Binge: What Your College Student Won't Tell You" by Barrett Seaman - I am so glad I'm not in college these days, as I'd be upset by all the binge drinking and drugging that reportedly goes on. My own experience in the early '70s was very tame (or maybe it was just Barnard). As detailed in this book, students are doing all sorts of things on campus with administrators seemingly looking the other way and no real supervision. Efforts are being made, and it's not all chaos, but... ick, drinking.

"Halfway Heaven" by Melanie Thernstrom - Harvard isn't paradise for everyone (they rejected me as an undergrad so I can't speak to that, but I did go there for grad school which was "eh"). This is the sad story of a troubled student from Ethiopia who in 1995 killed her Vietnamese roommate and then herself. The book delves into the backgrounds of the individuals involved, and Harvard's less-than-ideal treatment of the incident.

"Nothing But the Best: The Struggle for Perfection at the Juilliard School" by Judith Kogan - I used to think I wanted to go to Juilliard, but my piano playing wasn't nearly good enough to even attempt this. The school as portrayed in this 1987 book does not sound appealing, even to those with more talent. It's pressured, competitive, impersonal. No sugar-coating or coddling for world-class musicians.

"Cheer! Three Teams on a Quest for College Cheerleading's Ultimate Prize" by Kate Torgovnick - I love watching cheerleading, dance, gymnastic and similar synchronized routines (and was, after all, a majorette), so this book should have been up my alley. But the description of 3 very different schools' paths through competitive cheering was not too interesting. There wasn't a whole lot of drama, and I got bogged down in descriptions of moves I wasn't familiar with. This might have been better as a documentary, where the visual aspect could be better portrayed.

Gradually moving the books off the table near the window

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 03:23:03 GMT

My building got new windows 20 years ago, but these have proved unsatisfactory. It's drafty in cold weather, and people have reported water leaks. One of my windows had a part peel off last year, and it broke again after being fixed. The guy came once more and used some sort of super-glue. I was supposed to leave it alone for a few days but was so scared it would break that I haven't touched it all year.

This problem is moot since they're replacing all the windows. This has been going on since July, and mine are scheduled in about a month. I remember no inconvenience the last time, but this time we're asked to move things away from the window area, and cover everything else. There's a long memo detailing what we have to do; it's a total pain. I'm dreading it (not to mention that I'll be without window coverings for several days and might have to live my life in the bathroom since I'm on a low floor and the other rooms can be seen from outside), and have started moving things off the couch under the window which I'll have to turn on its side against the wall since there's nowhere to move it. Miles to go...

The computer is near the window, and I'm not sure if just covering it is enough, or I'll have to move it (running the risk of not being able to hook it up again). Next to the computer under the window is a table piled with books I've read that need to be blogged. So I need to get caught up on blogging (though I guess I could put the books elsewhere). I like to group them in some way, and this entry's theme will be: disappointing books from authors I've previously enjoyed.

"Guilty Pleasures" by Lawrence Sanders - I've liked many of Sanders' mysteries but this book about a rich, decadent Florida family had no mystery and little action. An incest subplot was particularly icky.

"Queenan Country" by Joe Queenan - Joe Queenan is a very funny guy and I especially like his writings on movies. This British travelogue left me cold, possibly because I'm not that interested in England. After the lead-off story of a Liverpool cabdriver who claimed intimate knowledge of the Beatles, I lost interest and gave up after 56 pages.

"The Man of my Dreams" by Curtis Sittenfeld - I loved the author's "Prep" so much I got it in hardcover after reading the paperback. This will be traded away. I wasn't enthralled with protagonist Hannah's coming of age tale, which seemed to go on and on in its angst.

"Don't Make a Scene" by Valerie Block - I loved the author's "None of Your Business" so much that I got another copy after lending mine out. This one, not so much. Diane programs a Village revival house cinema and has apartment problems and man problems. One relationship was especially distasteful.

"Chasing Harry Winston" by Lauren Weisberger - I liked "The Devil Wears Prada" but this was just eh. The heroines are fabulous and gorgeous, but I kept getting these 3 BFFs confused with characters in another book I was reading simultaneously.

"Some Nerve" by Jane Heller - The coincidence that dominates this story is ridiculous. It's revealed in the book jacket, but I won't spoil. A celebrity journalist in LA loses a big story and is banished back home to Middletown, where (gasp)... no, I won't spoil it. Didn't buy a word of it.

"Queen Takes King" by Gigi Levangie Grazer - Some of Grazer's books are better than others, and this is one of the others. Power couple (literally named Power) starts divorce proceedings when husband Jacks' (short for Jackson) affair with a hot newscaster is exposed. Some of the ensuing events are just icky.

"Certain Girls" by Jennifer Weiner - This eagerly awaited sequel to "Good in Bed" was a bit disappointing, though I'll keep it in my collection. Daughter Joy, born at the end of the first book, is now approaching her bat mitzvah and is one of the more annoying tweens on the planet. A wrenching plot twist near the end added to my discomfort. Still, I'll read anything Jennifer Weiner writes.

Packing it up

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:52:26 GMT

My mother was a pack rat and often said we'd hate her after she was gone when we had to go through all her things. We don't hate her, but she sure did have a lot of things (e.g., a drawer filled with feminine supplies that she hadn't needed since the '70s). My sister and I agreed we'd rather take it slowly than try to pack up the apartment all at once. This meant continuing to pay maintenance and other fees on her condo (we did disconnect the phone), but the expense is negligible compared to what her care would have cost had she lived. I've gone to Florida several times, and after another trip last week the end is in sight.

We found many coins, wrapped and unwrapped, and brought them to a nearby bank with a Penny Arcade machine. We had to unwrap them all for the machine, and spent quite a while dumping coins in the tray. The total came to over $154 (!) (including over 6000 pennies), split between my sister and me - the Mommy ATM!
The Mommy ATM continued when we found cash in the underwear drawer and in a locked metal box we correctly guessed the combination to (my father's favorite numbers). After the stroke, Mommy's purse went missing. I contacted EMT, the hospital, and her building staff and no one found it or remembered seeing it. Months later, we found it in an obscure corner of a closet with everything intact (we had figured it was lost rather than stolen, since there were no suspicious credit card charges), including some cash. Mommy ATM! Maybe the EMTs stashed it there, since she usually kept it in plainer sight. Hoping for more hidden treasure, we shook out all the books and looked in every nook and cranny, but found nothing further.

A box of books shipped Media Mail just arrived. I'd previously sent some items via UPS (the UPS Store can be expensive, but it's convenient and had no lines) and as checked baggage. This trip I filled and checked a large, wheeled TravelPro suitcase. It came to 60 pounds, and I didn't know the limit was 50. The guy said there would be a $100 charge unless I could lighten it, so I frantically took out "Ripstein: The Game" (custom-made board game) and some framed diplomas to get it to 50. Now, though, I had to fit the removed items in my carry-on duffel bag which already had my laptop and was very heavy.

Lugging the duffel onto the plane (with my other bag, a tote with reading material and pocketbook inside to keep the carry-ons at 2), I was happy to see one remaining space in the overhead bin across from my seat but could not hoist the bag. A good samaritan intervened, and also had to take it down when we landed. Our flight was supposed to use baggage claim B (according to both the announcement and electronic board), which took quite a while to start. I noticed people at claim C, and went over there but saw tags with a different flight number. After B had gone around several times without my suitcase, I again went to C (now deserted) and saw my bag. Oh well, at least I found it.

My credit card has a "blink" feature which failed to work last week at a Duane Reade (it did swipe) and in the cab from the Fort Lauderdale airport to my mother's place (it did work on the cab from home to LaGuardia). The Florida driver tried typing the number in manually and it still didn't work, so I paid cash. I immediately called the bank, who said they saw the attempted charge (which did not go through), and the driver's machine must have been faulty and he probably typed the number wrong. I was skeptical (was the Duane Reade machine also broken?) and hoped the final cab from LaGuardia back to home would accept the card. Thankfully, it did. Jiggety Jig.

Crayola changed its "flesh" crayon to "peach" in 1962

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 02:29:23 GMT

Us Magazine of May 9 had a style piece on "nude" dresses with the blurb, "Style is more than skin-deep! These celebs adore refined, flesh-toned fashions." It shows actresses in beige-colored dresses, including Taraji P. Henson.

Us must have later realized that not everyone is the same color, as the blurb is missing from the online article.

I might get more done if I went away from the computer once in a while

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 23:49:46 GMT

Jon Delfin wrote in EW (last letter) about reducing his Web time. Maybe if I did the same, I wouldn't first be reading this March letter now in the print magazine.

Musical summer

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 21:22:08 GMT

Here are some high-quality videos from a YouTuber seemingly onstage at the Montreal Paul McCartney concert. I vaguely considered visiting my cousins there and taking in more Paul, but plans never progressed beyond the vaguely considering. Paul did change the set list a bit, including "Michelle" for the French contingent.

Last night, I did a reprise with fake Beatles in "Rain" for a happy-making experience. They played some of the same songs as the real Paul and I felt nostalgic. I ordered 2 tickets and intended to bring one of my Paul concert companions, but that didn't work out (neither did an invite on Facebook) so I canceled the second ticket and went alone. This didn't matter since the audience was friendly and into it. Even the 70+ woman next to me stood and shook her booty. They played ads of the '60s, including one for stockings packaged in detergent (with the size on the box). We na-na-na-na'ed just like with the real Paul. Just as in life, the fake George and fake Ringo got little spotlight time.

*warning Level 42 esoterica* The first night I was watching Paul, my faves Level 42 were at a festival in Duren, Germany (compilation video). Mostly the stuff they always play, but with a few slightly different arrangements (e.g., beginning of "Love Games"). The big news is the addition of "All Over You" to the set list. This is a newish (1994) song not played live (on YouTube anyway) since 2001. I would love to hear it live, if they ever come to the US again. Other big news, duly noted by the ladies on the fan boards, is that Mark King has slimmed down and is rocking the leather pants. Quite a contrast to how he looked 2 years ago. *end of Level 42 esoterica*

Last year, I ate and ran at a gathering at Ollie's the day of the Level 42 concert. This year, we again convened at the Lincoln Center Ollie's (in honor of visitor J) and it was the same day as an Earth, Wind & Fire concert a few blocks up at the Beacon. They were also playing the following day, so I didn't get a ticket and played it by ear. We did finish in time for me to catch the concert, but I lingered while people got gelati. I walked past the Beacon and people were still outside around 8:20, and I might have not missed much but I kept walking and didn't try to get a ticket for either night. Once home, I checked online and decided to buy a lower balcony aisle seat for the second night. Best available expensive seat was in row Y, so this was likely to have a better view at less cost.

The next day, the Beacon marquee proclaimed the concert was sold out, so I'm glad I bought when I did (though could have saved service fees by going in person). The seat did have a nice view of the stage (didn't need the binoculars). The people next to me had come all the way from Virginia; EWF played in their area but sold out before they could get tickets, so they decided to spend a long weekend here (the woman was originally from LI). While I was talking to these people, I had no idea that my childhood neighbor who I haven't seen in at least 40 years was sitting one row down and a few seats over (three guesses how I later found this out).

There was no opening act, and EWF came out strong with "Boogie Wonderland." I didn't need my earplugs. They did hit after hit (can't find set list but it was something like this). There were a ton of people onstage, but only 3 are original members (falsetto-voiced singer Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson, and the dudiest dude of dudedom Verdine White). All the musicians were top-notch, and they also do dance steps. They acknowledged founding member (and Verdine's brother) Maurice White, who has been sidelined due to illness. *oh wait, more Level 42 stuff* There's even a Level 42 connection - Verdine and another EWF member Larry Dunn produced Level 42's 1983 album "Standing in the Light" *end of Level 42 stuff* Fabulous concert. I couldn't find videos of my concert, but here are some good ones from Danbury a few days later (Verdine's the dude in... oh, you'll be able to figure it out). If you don't want to dance during "Shining Star," you don't have legs.

So long, Visual Bookshelf

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 03:18:11 GMT

I was going to do a book review update here, which requires updating my book catalog files. Discovered that Visual Bookshelf (part of Living Social on Facebook) is being discontinued. It was down for several days recently, so that must have been a warning sign. They recommended Goodreads, so I attempted to export from VB. That timed out, so I tried exporting from Library Thing. It said to check back in half an hour, but I have a feeling it'll be longer. Someone on FB said Goodreads took 36 hours (!) to process her list; don't know how it compares to my 2800+ books. I also have a catalog on BookCrossing but that's more for books I'll possibly be trading, so, for example, no puzzle books are cataloged.

Once the import completes, I'll probably have to do some editing. If ratings/reviews don't come over, I'll probably do without, but I will need my "read" (meaning "have read") and other tags. This will probably be a pain, but it's better than losing data altogether (which is why I have multiple back-ups).

Speaking of export/import, my last LJ entry (movie reviews) from 9 hours ago hasn't come over to Facebook. I accidentally posted it before I was ready, and then edited it multiple times so maybe that caused a problem.

Why couldn't Andrea Carla Michaels name these movies?

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 18:21:22 GMT

The list of movies I've seen but haven't talked about is so long some of them are silents! Well, not quite, but it does go way back. I'm not going to review 46 movies at once, so let's do the ones with such vague or otherwise nondescriptive titles I didn't remember them and had to Google. (I won't quote titles.)

Heartbreaker - This French film stars Johnny Depp's girlfriend Vanessa Paradis,who is a huge star in France. The dashing Alex is part of a team that breaks up relationships, and they are hired to prevent Vanessa's character's wedding. This could have been distasteful, but while it was a bit dark I found it interesting and funny.

A Good Husband - Japanese movie about a lazy, womanizing photographer, or so it seems. Flashbacks reveal there is much more to the story, and I need to see it again. Not on Netflix, though.

Fair Game - Oh right, it was the Naomi Watts movie about outed CIA agent Valerie Plame. J invited me to this SAG/WGA screening, and I ran into someone who now works at my ex-job (she wasn't there when I was there, but knew who I was).

Love and Other Drugs (Q&A with director/writer/producer? - don't remember, but was not the stars) - Jake Gyllenhaal is a sleazy pharmaceutical salesman in the era of Viagra. He meets Parkinson's patient Anne Hathaway, who wants a no-strings-attached relationship. Sometimes sad, sometimes funny, not bad.

Somewhere (Q&A with Joel Coen interviewing Sofia Coppola) - Lazy days at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont with a dissolute actor whose small daughter comes for an extended visit. Shots last too long (car going around and around, daughter skating around and around... zzzz) and nothing much happens. Maybe I just didn't get it (but I'm not alone - one Netflix commenter preferred a colonoscopy to this film).

A Family Affair (Q&A with Chico Colvard) - Documentary about the filmmaker's troubled family history of incest and abuse - and forgiveness. Colvard spoke afterward to the small audience which made the movie that much more personal.

And Everything Is Going Fine (intro by Steven Soderbergh, Q&A with family members) - MoMA presented this documentary about monologist Spalding Gray, whose work I'd never seen. I did know he (allegedly) killed himself, and this fact hovers over the story, told entirely in Gray's own words.

Monogamy (Spirit Awards nominee for First Screenplay) - Even after reading about it, I can't quite explain this movie about a wedding photographer who takes surveillance-style photos on the side. His fixation with mysterious client "Subgirl" causes problems with his fiancee (Rashida Jones).

Kisses (Spirit nominee - Foreign) - Two Irish children escape their drab suburban existence and spend a night in Dublin. The big city can be scary, but the kids are sweet.

Mother and Child (Spirit nominee - Supporting Female (Watts) and Supporting Male (Jackson)) - Fine acting, intriguing, heartbreaking plot about adoption. Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Samuel L. Jackson's and Kerry Washington's lives are intertwined in ways that gradually become clear.

Lovers of Hate (Spirit nominee - Cassavetes award) - Successful novelist and his brother both go after the brother's soon-to-be ex-wife, and things come to a head in Park City, Utah. Some elements of romantic farce.

Everything Strange and New (Spirit nominee - First Feature) - I barely remember this even after reading the description. A couple in Oakland try to make ends meet. Though Wayne is a carpenter, he's sometimes shown in clown makeup. Author Beth Lisick plays the wife (I have but haven't read 2 of her books).

Saved the worst titles for last:

Life As We Know It - Could that title be more generic? Josh Duhamel and Katherine Heigl are set up on a disastrous blind date by their mutual friends, and later end up having to raise those friends' baby. Yeah, that happens all the time. Adorable baby, poop scenes, and everything else you'd expect.

How Do You Know - How do you know WHAT? That could be about anything! But it was a cute Reese Witherspoon vehicle, not great cinema but not awful. Reese's athletic career is going down the tubes as two hot men (businessman with problems Paul Rudd and self-centered baseball player Owen Wilson) vie for her attention. We should all have such problems.

En McCartney

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:39:51 GMT

Paul and I spent the weekend together, and I still haven't recovered (Paul himself knows nothing about this). As you know, Paul and I go way back.

Tickets for the 7/15 concert arrived in the mail 2 weeks prior (they were so expensive I almost felt like putting them in a bank vault), and excitement mounted as the day neared. Finally it was Friday, and I met A at the 125th St. D platform at 7pm. The train was packed with fans, and the area near the stadium even more crowded. Unlike Citifield, there was no bag inspection and no floor seat wristband. The seats were not together, so first I found mine which was near the back of the section on the right side of the stage near the right aisle, and his which was further up and closer to the center aisle. We'd switch approximately halfway through.

A DJ was playing Beatles covers onstage at low volume. Then they ran video montages on the big side screens with more covers (including Stevie Wonder's "We Can Work It Out" - yay) at louder but still manageable volume. To my left were a couple my age who I never talked to, to my right two guys who came just before showtime with beers (which they were careful not to spill; these guys seemed very nice), and in front of me a woman with long, curly hair.

Finally at around 8:30, Paul (in a bright, blue jacket) and the band walked out. OOOOHHHH! Although security had asked people not to stand (huh? Everyone in back of me was standing, so why not?) we did anyway as "Hello Goodbye" opened the show. At Citi I was 3 seats in and everyone moved into the aisle for more room but they discouraged that here so it was somewhat cramped among the narrow folding chairs. The volume was deafening (much worse than Citi where I was further back on the floor in a side B section) and I inserted my earplugs. There were huge speakers on each side of the stage, so top-dollar floor seats might not be ideal for me. The earplugs muted the sound, but just the vibrations seemed excessive during "Back in the USSR." Maybe I'm overly sensitive, but I still can't believe people like this level of sound.

I kept accidentally bumping my neighbor's long hair, as did the guy next to me, and she kept turning around, annoyed, as we apologized. If she'd pinned it up, we wouldn't have this problem. Found out later that she shushed A and the guys for talking (how could she even hear them above the blasting sound?), and to make matters worse she puffed on a cigarette! (A couldn't tell if it was regular or wacky) And she was annoyed with US? Geez. Other than that, the audience behaved although I smelled something briefly both nights. I had been worried about this, but it was maybe a total of 5 minutes and not a lingering reek, so I could live with that. Still, I wish security would focus on this instead of stopping people from taking video which reportedly was a problem despite the many YouTubes. I don't care what people do, but the law says I shouldn't have to breathe smoky substances. People might think, you go to a rock concert, what do you expect? But this isn't Phish or Dave Matthews, for which I'd certainly need noseplugs to go with the earplugs. Let 'em eat brownies or shrooms or whatever, which doesn't affect the air. If I sound like an old fuddy-duddy, I was also a young fuddy-duddy. Anyway, it was only a very tiny problem.

At "Blackbird," I caught A's eye and we switched, swapping tickets as we passed since they were checking. Turns out that was slightly earlier than the halfway point, but not too far off. While he was befriending my nicer neighbors (I almost didn't find him afterward because they were all taking pictures), I talked in my new seat to the woman and her 20ish daughter to the left, and the man with his 9-year-old on the right. This was the little girl's 4th Paul concert! As in my first seat, people didn't stand for every song, but they stood often enough and I got a little dancing in. As at Citi it was sooooo exciting to see Paul "standing right in front of me" (or several rows in front of me), as the lyric goes (he did sing that). At 69, he still oozes cuteness and charisma, plays multiple instruments like a master, and just really rocks. And he wrote it all! His voice could be a bit rough at times. People constantly marvel how he performs for almost 3 hours without even a glass of water, but maybe he should have that glass of water. Still, he did hit 95% of the notes and is miles ahead of most of today's faux musicians (I'm looking at you, Britney).

If this writeup sounds a bit negative, I don't mean it to be. I was in the presence of greatness, a legend. In fact, I was so thrilled to be there I wanted to do it again the next night even if he sang the exact same songs. Arriving home after another crowded subway ride (where someone on the transfer platform recognized me from "Wordplay"), I hit the Web. I gave myself a $100 limit; besides saving money, the regular stadium seats looked wider than the floor folding chairs, and the sound might be less loud. Ticketmaster had very little (obstructed view? No thanks), but there was a decent selection on StubHub. I hoped to avoid the nosebleed tippy-top (though I'd seen Paul already so would take that in a pinch). There were Field level seats far away from the stage. There were also Main (middle level) seats, and one in section 214A (midway down the field, on the right), 10th row, was listed below face value ($140 at Ticketmaster, $92 on StubHub, including fees) so I grabbed it, printed it out, and was good to go. I checked again the next morning, and all the good stuff was gone so I'm glad I bought when I did.

The next night seemed a rerun of the first. Crowded subway, crowded stadium entry, no inspections. Excitement! This time I walked up the ramp instead of onto the field, up and up. But I was pleasantly surprised that the seat didn't feel that distant, and I looked directly down on the stage. I was hoping to see the piano keys from the right, but the angle didn't work out. I brought binoculars but they didn't have much effect (or I didn't know how to work them) and relied on the big screens for details. There was a huge speaker near me rising up from the field, but the sound of the pre-show was somewhat lower (don't know if they toned things down, or if it was the location). My row had 2 families with kids and an older woman, so it looked promising for non-smoky smells.

Paul and the band again came out around 8:30; he wore a black suit this time. And the set list was different, beginning with "Magical Mystery Tour." It was loud, but not punishingly so. The order had a few more slight differences to keep things fresh. I decided to protect my ears and put in the plugs at "Let Me Roll It" (my least favorite song, though someone in back of me gushed it was her favorite - different strokes). People sat a lot more in my area, so I couldn't dance until the encores. I smelled things very fleetingly, not a big problem. During "Blackbird," a vendor yelled "Cold beer!" and we shushed him up. Way to ruin a quiet song! People online are saying Saturday was better than Friday; hard to judge, but I was definitely happy I went again. One big difference was that in the encore, Billy Joel joined Paul for "I Saw Her Standing There"! The crowd went wild, though I wasn't completely surprised since he'd done the same the first night at Citi.

Online reviews are unanimously glowing. Well, duh! Just Google "best concert ever" and "Paul McCartney." Now that I'm a more seasoned Paul concertgoer, I recognize that he uses mostly the same patter (I could probably quote his stories about Jimi Hendrix and the guitar string, George's ukulele, and the civil rights connection to "Blackbird") and a lot of the same playlist. And that's fine. Should he NOT play "Yesterday" and other heavy hitters in favor of an obscure Wings song (as some online message board writers want)? It was about 1/3 different from what I heard 2 years ago, and I would have been OK even if it was the same. This is PAUL!

Here's the set list(s) with comments. I'm not putting quotes around song titles. I'm too lazy to scour YouTube for the best rendition of each song, so I'll link to them en masse. The video quality is very nonprofessional. For better production values, Good Evening New York City from the Citi concerts is the next best thing to being there at far less cost. I'm even shown (blink and you'll miss it) on the DVD in back of some jumping-up-and-down girls during "Back in the USSR." I haven't found myself in any Yankee Stadium videos, but could be in floor crowd scenes on 7/15. I doubt I'm findable on 7/16 in the balcony. Oh wait, it's not about me but about Paul. Still, it's surreal knowing I'm one of the dots or screams or claps or singers-along in the crowd.

Hello Goodbye (Friday); Magical Mystery Tour (Saturday) - nothing beats the excitement when Paul appears on stage, and these were upbeat openers I hadn't heard live before
Jet (order switched with Junior's Farm on Saturday)
All My Loving - also new to me live
Junior's Farm - let's go, let's go, happy mood
Drive My Car - opened Citi concert so seemed odd here. Was soon "beep beeping" with everyone else.
Sing The Changes - love this (hadn't known it before Citi), but the loudness hurt it the first night. Paul might have gone lower on a few notes (will have to compare to Citi DVD)
The Night Before - never performed before! Brought me immediately back to seeing "Help!" in the movie theater 4 times (in 2 sittings). Loved it
Let Me Roll It / Foxy Lady - eh, wish this would vanish from the set
Paperback Writer
The Long and Winding Road - Paul to the piano to begin the quiet segment
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five - oops, not that quiet. Really liked this Wings song, hadn't heard it live before
Let 'Em In - more Wings, fun and silly
Maybe I'm Amazed - this was new to the set and the song is beautiful, but Paul's voice was not completely up to it either night. I'm sorry, Paul. It was maybe 80% of perfection (watch the video and judge for yourself). Maybe that glass of water would have helped.
I've Just Seen a Face (Friday); I'm Looking Through You (Saturday) - LOVE the first one, and Saturday's choice was good, too - both new to me live
I Will - also new live. Short and oh so sweet
Blackbird - I cried when I heard this at Citi. On Friday I was busy switching seats, and Saturday we had the loud beer vendor, so didn't get the full effect
Here Today - same patter honoring John Lennon, but still touching. He didn't crack as much as at Citi
Dance Tonight - brings the mood back up
Mrs. Vandebilt - LOVE LOVE LOVE this, as do the Ukrainians
Eleanor Rigby - eh
Something - starts out in a rhythmic ukulele version, then segues dramatically to what we're used to. This has grown on me, so gorgeous and sad (aw, George)
Band On The Run - love when guitarist Brian switches to a 12-string
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - new to me live, everyone sang along
Back In The U.S.S.R. - NYT critic pointed out that Paul has outlasted not only BOAC (referenced in the lyrics) but the USSR itself
I've Got A Feeling - massive LOVE
A Day In The Life / Give Peace A Chance - this is really a John song and kinda druggy (sniffing air), OK I guess
Let It Be - piano, sigh, want to play this
Live & Let Die - fireworks and pyrotechnics seemed wilder than at Citi. The air got hot, Paul looked dazed. Probably scary onstage behind columns of shooting flames
Hey Jude - audience sing-along, na-na-na-na. On Friday, someone had a sign "Hey Paul, I'm Jude" and Paul replied, "Hey, Jude"! (this person posted on a message board that his name actually was Julian and he was called Jude just like Julian Lennon - and he was thrilled Paul read his sign. Paul didn't read signs on Saturday, by the way)
(Encore) Lady Madonna - a fave. I had no doubt there'd be an extensive encore, but the people next to me left on Friday. Hope they were watching from the back somewhere
Day Tripper (Friday); I Saw Her Standing There (with Billy Joel, Saturday) - woo-hoo, Billy! Day Tripper rocked as well
Get Back - another fave. Paul asks, "Do YOU wanna get back?" (Yeah!)
(Encore 2) Yesterday - he couldn't not do this. Audience singing along was a bit distracting
Helter Skelter - somehow the Citi performance of this won a Grammy. Not a fave but he hit the notes nicely for someone who'd just sung for almost 3 hours
Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End - the medley from Abbey Road sent chills up my spine. This is new to the set (previously segued into The End from Sgt. Pepper) and really moving. I'm getting chills just writing this

So there it is. Watch the videos and you'll get a flavor of the events (without any annoying neighbors or smells, unless that's what you want). Better yet, see him if he's coming to your town. It's pricy but worth it. I'd "get back" in a minute!

LiveJournal comments now LJ users only

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 23:54:47 GMT

I'm getting too many spam comments (which I delete when notified), so have set commenting to LJ users only. If you want to comment and don't have an account, you can either set one up or send me a message with your comment and I'll post it.

If you're reading this on Facebook, you are my friend and can comment on the FB feed.

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 04:56:05 GMT

Cross sums (now called kakuro) are perhaps my favorite puzzles, but not the best use of time so I try to stay away. However, I was helpless in the face of a newly unearthed clean copy of Dell Deluxe Edition Cross Sums #1, and solved all 211 puzzles. The starting hints were unusually helpful, probably because I proofread this book (in 2004, so I don't remember the puzzles) and suggested the last entries I filled in. I then found another Dell kakuro magazine, and solved all 200 puzzles. Very addictive.

What I should be doing is making a dent in my reading backlog. Adam Langer guest-solved the NYT crossword in September, and I recently read his novel, "The Thieves of Manhattan." I probably missed most of the hidden puzzles, but still enjoyed the twisty, meta, NYC-centric plot. I immediately grinned at the literary eponyms (listed in a glossary at the back) like "chabon n. A wavy mane like the one worn by the author Michael Chabon."

I mention that eponym since I also read Michael Chabon's "Wonder Boys." Everyone in this book (mostly academics and students) seems to be falling apart, and using drugs, alcohol and sex to cope. What's supposed to be whimsical and comic comes across as sad to me. I don't want to see the movie.

Continuing in a more literary vein than my usual chick-lit, I also attempted "Reunion" by Alan Lightman, and gave up after 111 pages. Charles muses and reminisces on the brink of his 30-year Princeton-like college reunion, and I couldn't stay awake. The author has won many awards, so it's probably not him, it's me.

I gave up even more quickly (66 pages) on Ellen Douglas' "The Rock Cried Out." Maybe this New Yorker couldn't relate to the book's strong sense of place of the South. Written under a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the novel has a classy pedigree but I just couldn't appreciate it.

I did finish Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking." Am I going to say that I didn't appreciate this highly-praised National Book Award winner? Well, sort of. Didion had a horrible year (husband died suddenly, daughter was hospitalized) which got even worse after the events in the book (daughter died). Others reported reading with tissues handy, but I wasn't feeling her pain.

Maybe I'm not hopeless, since I was enthralled by the final 3 Harry Potter books. Situations became unfair, dangerous, and threatening and I got lost in Harry's now-familiar world. I don't understand every last bit of mythology, though, and will have to see if the movies clarify things.