10.31.2003

Take away the green light, and this is pretty much what I saw last night.

God bless all the men and women who have been fighting the fires in California. And may God watch over all of those who lost so much this week.

Man stuck in toilet looking for phone: "Passengers on a New York commuter train had extra reason to be unhappy with a fellow passenger with a cell phone. "

What was I just saying about cell phones on public transportation? What a moron.

U.S. Officials See Hussein’s Hand in Attacks on Americans in Iraq: "Saddam Hussein may be playing a significant role in coordinating and directing attacks by his loyalists against American forces in Iraq, senior American officials said Thursday."

Yes, yes, we know. He's living in Tikrit. Will you catch him, for the love of God??

Top 5 Worst LOTR Halloween Costumes: "So, you've beaten the odds and got yourself invited to a costume party tonight eh? Want to show off your uber-geekness for all things Rings? Well here is a list of ideas NOT to use....because too much geek can be a bad thing."

You have to be pretty darn geeky to get some of the joke, but then...I am.

A Little Less 'Joe Millionaire' to Love: "By airing the show only once each week during the sweeps, Fox is cutting its ratings losses. Next Tuesday, Fox will repeat the season debut of Kiefer Sutherland's series '24' for the third time; two repeats of 'That '70s Show' will fill in on Nov. 11, and another 'That '70s Show' rerun paired with 'The Simpsons' will substitute on Nov. 18. "

I guess the new Joe Millionaire is so bad that FOX has pulled it from Tuesday nights during November sweeps. I'm glad I read this article. I would have tuned in on Tuesday night for 24 and been bananas when I found that JM was on instead. FOX put all their eggs in one basket, apparently. So, if any of you want to try to catch the 24 season premiere, it'll be on on Tuesday, November 4. I can't believe, however, that they won't be airing any new 24 episodes until December. Repeats of That 70s Show and The Simpsons draw more viewers than new episodes of 24? I find that hard to believe.

Red Skies At Night

A note from the Weather Center: "The northern lights were seen around 7 pm in Connecticut and it featured bright reds. "

I saw the northern lights in my own freakin' backyard last night. I had to stop at the grocery store on the way home, so I didn't pull into my driveway until about 6:45 P.M. I live in a rural area, at the top of hill, so there is very little interference from city lights when stargazing. When I looked up to admire the sky full of stars (as I am wont to do, being the geek that I am), I was rendered breathless by what I saw - virtually the entire sky was red, even though it was long past sunset (and besides, I was looking east). I thought, "This looks like the aurora borealis, or at least what I think it would look like." When I told my mother what I saw, she told me that she just heard on the news that it was viewable. So, I scrambled to get my cameras out and set them for night photography, which took some browsing through manuals. By the time I got outside, though, it had already vanished.

However, I don't think even I could forget what I saw. Magnificent.



10.30.2003

Cell phone etiquette 101: "There's a fair chance that anyone reading this column has been annoyed by a cell phone at least once. My personal pet peeves are ringing phones in movie theaters and people who insist on sharing their lives with the entire public transportation system. I ignore my phone on the bus. It feels strange to have a conversation with half the city listening in. Yes, I keep it on, but it's always on 'vibrate' or in 'silent mode.' "

Oh, my blood is boiling just thinking about the customers who would come into Tommy K's with their headsets on, fully involved in a conversation. They would roam around the store, speaking very loudly; then they would approach the register, still on the phone, completely immersed in their conversation, at full volume, never once acknowledging that I was even standing there. Why can't people understand how rude that is? Whatever happened to polite society? I got to the point where I would just stand there at the register after they put their items on the counter, and wait until they actually looked me in the eye and acknowledged my existence before I would even ring up the first item. I just recently took a train ride from Newark to New Haven, and there was at least one person talking on their phone for the entire 2.5 hour ride, sometimes more than one at a time. II can't read, I can't snooze, and I don't really care to hear about their day.

Personally, I don' think cell phones should be allowed in public buildings or transportation at all. Gotta make a call? Go outside. Waiting for a call? Too bad, let them leave a message. No one is that indispensable.

Rant complete.
Dean Cain to play Scott Peterson in movie.

Perfect.

10.29.2003

The New Jersey child abuse case, the one in which the adoptive parents are accused of starving 4 adopted boys, just baffles me. If they were indeed starving these children to death, why in the world would they have a family portrait taken? It is clear from the photo that there is something seriously physically wrong with them, especially when seen next to the Jacksons' 7 other obviously robust children. I just don't get it.

A pugkin.

Jack Smack

Last night's season premiere of 24 was notable, for a few reasons. It was presented without commercial interruption by Ford and its F-150 truck - instead of commercials, the episode was bookended by the first and second halves of a short film called "The Donation", a cheeky homage to 24, starring the F-150.

What the series has lacked in character development (due to its single day format - how much can one person change in a day?) it has always made up for in thrills. Now, it seems, we are finally getting some character payback, now that we know them all a little bit. And by advancing the story three years from the end of last season, the characters can be in places in their lives that are drastically different from before. Spawn now works at CTU, in some sort of junior technical capacity, and she seems to know what she's doing. Maybe she went to the local community college in the intervening years. And she's dating Jack's new partner, the very appealing Jay (or is it Jason?). I already have crushes on 2 men on this show (Palmer and Kiefer) - I don't think I can find room in my heart for another. Well, maybe it won't be my heart that will be pre-occupied with him.

Anyway, I may be mistaken, but I think Tony and Michelle, who had their first kiss/makeout session last season, are now married. President Palmer, last seen lying on a sidewalk after contracting an especially virulent virus (that's redundant, isn't it?) from an intentionally infected handshake, has recovered from the assassination attempt, although he seems to still suffer some physical effects of the virus - I don't think he was ever completley cured, just brought into remission. He's also been a busy boy in the romance department since we last saw him - he shared a kiss last night with his physician (a woman, yes) that was much more than platonic. Lucky girl.

Then there's Jack. Poor Jack. His love life is in a shambles, apparently. It seems that in the three years since we last saw him, he entered into a relationship with Kate Warner (last year's femme fatale) that did not last. (The relationship is in fact still in the process of ending - she called him last night to tell him that she found a leather jacket he left behind) It seems that his work put an end to the relationship, especially the part where he spent the past year deep undercover with a Colombian drug lord, Salazar. So deep, in fact, that he's now a drug addict!! This was revealed at the very end of the episode, when it finally became clear why Kiefer was all sweaty and irritable during the show - he got his kit out of his office closet, tied off his arm and was ready to shoot up when good old Spawn called him on the phone and prevented him from getting his fix. Kiefer was fantastic, throughout the entire episode.

All this and a deadly virus about to be unleashed on the population. Bring it on.

10.28.2003

Anderson Coooper: "This CNN anchorman has a range. He is as conversant in whom Beyonce is dating as in what's going on in Baghdad. "

Homeless gnomes gather dust in France: "'In wanting to set them free, the Liberation Front has virtually imprisoned them,' policeman Sylvain Brucker told Reuters, adding the local prosecutor could decide to sell the kitsch garden ornaments in a police auction. "

How sadly ironic.

The following takes place from 9:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M.

Tonight, 9:00 P.M. EST, on FOX.

Adults are taking back Halloween: "“The notion that Halloween is simply for kids is a misconception based on the centrality of trick-or-treating in the 1950s, when there was an attempt to take the mischief out of Halloween and ‘infantilize’ it,” says Nick Rogers, a history professor at York University in Toronto and author of “Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night.”"

Thing 1 and Thing 2I don't think I ever stopped celebrating Halloween. We have a party to go to on Friday night, and Sheila and are going as Thing 1 and Thing 2, from Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat. We are going to look so awesome. I made my goldfish last night and he's sitting in his fish bowl at home, as we speak. All I have left to do is spray my wig blue tonight. I wonder if we're going to drive to the party with the wigs on, or put them on in the car when we get there. I think it would be pretty funny if we rode around with them on.

Crossover Act: "'I can do a gig in a dress or not. When I came down the East Coast last time I had a beard and I was in blokey mode, as I call it. And when I went down the West Coast I was in girlie mode. Just like a woman can wear pants or she can wear a skirt. It's her choice, and it's my choice. It's got nothing to do with the comedy. If you look at the comedy, I'm just talking crap about history. Does it matter if I have lipstick on? If I take it off, does the comedy change?' "

Great article from the Washington Post on Eddie Izzard, with nice accompanying blokey photo.

I don't recall details of cutting up friend.

You'd think that would be something one would remember.

360°

Aha!! And I didn't cheat.

10.27.2003

Reichen & Chip: Reality sets in: "After Arndt had helped Lehmkuhl, a former Air Force captain, through the difficult years of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” closet; after Lehmkuhl supported Arndt when his online entertainment company was swept away in the flood of dot-com failures; and after the couple beat 11 other teams in a race around the world, they decided to break up."

That's a shame. They both seemed dumber than a box of rocks, but they were very supportive of each other and that is what I think won them the race. Too bad it's not enough to make it work in real life.

10.26.2003

Neanderthals, Fire Poles and Medusa

Eddie Izzard was fabulous. Over the past couple of days I've caught myself smiling as a bit from the show popped into my mind. He covered his usual dizzying array of topics - seeing-eye dogs, Greek Mythology, customs agents, the invention of fire, Christopher Walken - in his brilliant circuitous fashion. If you've seen any of his shows, you know his performances are almost impossible to describe (and if you haven't, you should) - as Eddie says, he basically gets on stage and "talks bollocks" for a couple of hours.

Things got off to a shaky start for us, though. Sheila and I arrived at Holly's at about 5:00, which gave us plenty of time to eat some Chinese take-out and get to the Shubert in Boston for an 8:00 show. Unfortunately, due to an unknown traffic catastrophe beyond our control, it took us an hour and a half to get to the theater, putting us in our seats a good half hour after the show started. I could hear his voice and the audience laughing as we climbed the stairs to our section. I'll never forget seeing him standing there on stage as the usher opened the door: the long, military style blue satin coat, the red corset top, the micro-mini black skirt, the fishnet stockings and the black stiletto boots. Just gorgeous. As if all that glamour wasn't enough, Mr. Izzard has acquired his very own set of breasts ("down at the shop," as he told Charlie Rose), which filled out his corset tops nicely, but interfered with his microphone at times.

A selection of the very appropriate Tom Jones was played during intermission, after which Eddie emerged in a slinky, spaghetti-strapped black number, slit way the hell up to here. I love the way he struts/swaggers onto the stage, looking not so much like a woman, but very much like a bloke who likes to wear makeup and women's clothes. (Eddie, however, would take exception to that - he says he doesn't wear women's clothes, he wears his own clothes. To paraphrase him from the Charlie Rose appearance, he crosses no boundaries because he doesn't believe in those boundaries and is therefore simply a "vestite", since there is no "trans-ing" involved).

Much of the show is a blur to me, partly because I spent the first half hour or so decompressing from the traffic nightmare and partly because most of what I do soon becomes a blur to me. (I'll be snatching up the DVD as soon as it becomes available, especially since we missed the first half hour - he refers back constantly to the earlier parts of his show, and there were some jokes I know I missed). Some of the highlights, though, would include Medusa at the beauty parlor, the failed seeing-eye dog pushing its master into traffic, the Doppler cats, the Sirens, the child-wearing horses and the Christopher Walken impersonation. The stage decoration was also memorable, with military-style camouflage netting on either side of the stage, showcasing the masculine/feminine juxtaposition that is Eddie Izzard.

Take away the skirts, heels and makeup, though, and what you're left with is a very funny, intelligent man. Or, a Sexie bloke who talks bollocks.

10.22.2003

Jim Carrey to play Six Million Dollar Man

Oh no no no no nooooo! Hollywood is bound and determined to destroy all the heroes of my youth.

10.21.2003

At first glance, I thought this photo was a macabre new mobile for a baby's crib.

I'm still not feeling all that well. I don't think I have a sinus infection - I've had enough of them to know one when I see one. This must be some sort of stubborn virus. I'm seriously considering going home early today, getting some good sleep. I need to be snuggled under a big puffy blanket with my sound machine set to Ocean Waves. Or even just prone on the couch, under that same puffy blanket, of course. Just not here.

Unbelievable: "One of the paper's reporters saw the judge 'making unambiguous gestures after discretely lifting his judicial robe and opening his trousers,' it said. "

I'm sorry, but someone has to say it...Here comes da judge!

Bored to Tears, Woman Hurls TV Out Window.

My hero!!! Too bad there wasn't a network programming executive strolling by just as she chucked it out the window.

The velvety-smooth Kiefer is back: 24 Season Premiere - Tuesday, October 28 9pm/8c. That's a week from tonight, folks. And it looks like Spawn will be with us for another season of incredibly stupid decisions as she unnecessarily distracts her father as he tries to save the world yet again. She did get a new haircut, though.

I'm up to 3 shows now.

The Anderson Cooper Fan Club. Did you know that Cooper's mother is Gloria Vanderbilt? I did not know that. Or that he can speak Vietnamese. I love his approach to the news. He has a sense of humor about things he should have a sense of humor about and is serious when he needs to be. Try to watch his CNN show, 360 degrees (I don't know how to insert a degree character!), weeknights at 7:00 P.M. EST, to see what I'm talking about.

Even more gray-goodness can be found here, an Anderson Cooper fan listing.

10.20.2003

"And that never happened."

Have you seen this?: "In the clip, from a QVC home shopping channel telecast, a caller from California identified only as Renee had just begun extolling the virtues of QVC Item 17183, the Telesteps 12.5 foot aluminum telescoping ladder, when the incident occurred."

If not, click here (or right-click and "Save Target As..." to download to your computer first). And they say there's nothing good on television these days.

Diana letter 'warned of car plot': "'XXXX is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry.' "

Could it be that she was murdered, and Mohamed al Fayed is not a paranoid crackpot? Or was she the paranoid crackpot and this all just a tragic coincidence? My guess: we will never know.

Monday Monday

I've been MIA these past few days as a result of getting hit with some sort of cold/virus which has had me basically on the couch. I've still got a bit of a cough and some congestion, but I am better, even if I do feel really tired.

I managed to get out on Saturday and buy some mums and pumpkins. It was a beautiful autumn day, just perfect for that kind of thing, including baking an apple pie, which I did in the afternoon.

I had Marty for the weekend, while Sheila went to New Hampshire with friends. Petie and he were happy to have each other to play with, and I got to have some cuddle time with Marty Moon.

Now I'm preparing for the big night, Friday, when we see the fabulous Eddie Izzard at the Wang Center in Boston. I still can't quite believe I'm going to see him. I better damn well feel better by then!

10.17.2003

Flash of 70's Sequins: "His limbs twirling like the blades of a windmill, Mr. Jackman channels the energy that was Allen with a rejuvenating life force all his own. And you don't feel — as you so often do with such interpretations — that your memories of the prototype have been blurred. This is a performance that, against the odds, holds on to its integrity."

His Hughness gets rave reviews from the NYTimes, while the show itself gets panned. In general, I'd have to agree with the reviewer's assessment. Not only that the show is mediocre, but that Hugh Jackman, by sheer force of will and talent, makes it worth the price of admission.

SpyDaddy is a Song and Dance Man

'Alias' Dad: "As the seemingly honorable but still questionable agent and father on 'Alias,' Garber makes the family drama as tense and gut-wrenching as the espionage. In addition, he is playing a character even he doesn't know the entire truth about, and he wouldn't have it any other way. "

Can I tell you how tempted I am to watch the shows I've taped so far this season?? December 2 can't come soon enough! (thanks to Colleen for the link)

10.13.2003

Weekend in NY

Central ParkNew Jersey and New York, actually. I had a wonderful visit with Colleen and her sister and brother-in-law. They live at Liberty Point, Jersey City, with a to-die-for view of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. Pulling onto the Liberty Point access road and seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time was incredible.

We weren't able to get tickets to Eddie Izzard. Colleen and I went into town on Friday afternoon and headed for City Center box office immediately, to no avail. So, we decided to check on ticket availability for various shows at the discount booth in Times Square. "The Boy From Oz", Hugh Jackman's show in previews, was on the board, so we got in line. An hour later, as we approached the ticket window, TBFO was no longer listed; we decided to go for "Gypsy", with Bernadette Peters. At the last minute, though, I asked the guy behind the window if TBFO was indeed sold out, and he said he'd check. Came back with 2 tickets. Yippee! Colleen and I were both very pleased with the show, especially Mr. Jackman. What a stage presence, and what a voice.

We had already started drinking before the show - actually, we started at the Pig & Whistle even earlier, before we got in line for tickets, and then at McHale's at 8th and 46th streets. It was about a half a block from the theater. I just read today that it was a hangout for Dorothy Parker and has been voted "best hamburger in the city". I knew I liked that place. We continued after the show, taking a train into Hoboken and the Whiskey Bar. We drank, did a little dancing and sweated our asses off.

We went back into the City on Saturday, this time for some eats and some sightseeing. We ate at a bistro in SoHo, then walked through Little Italy and Chinatown. Then we took the subway uptown, sat on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and watched a pretty bad mime. Then into Central Park for a long but leisurely stroll.

We were too tired (or at least I was) to do much more than hang out on Saturday night, so we stayed in and watched a couple of episode commentaries on the Alias DVDs. And eat some chocolate chip cookies.

All in all, a great weekend. Thanks, Coll!

(photo by me on Colleen's camera)

TeeVee Reviews Carnivale: "Apparently the show is about some struggle between Good and Evil, played respectively -- I think -- by Stahl and Brown, and I only figured out that much because Anderson helpfully comes on at the beginning of the very first show and pretty much says that's what the show's about. Good thing, too, because otherwise I'd be hopelessly lost."

I really really wanted to like this show. Really. But the writers are not making it easy. I know more about the inside workings of a carnival at this point than I do about any of the characters or their motivations. And nothing ever happens! Sure, they move from town to town, but nothing about the central plot has been revealed; so Ben found a photo of his mother and father? That was 3 episodes ago and nothing has been explained. Ben speaks only about 10 words per episode, and I'm pretty sure they are the same 10 words every episode.

While I would be completely justified in dropping Carnivale from my viewing roster, I know I won't. I'm going to ride this one out until I find out who the hell these people are supposed to be, even if I wind up choking on the show's excessive dust.

10.10.2003

Off to NJ and NY, maybe a show, maybe Eddie, maybe not, but a good time anyway. Have a great weekend I'll be back on Sunday.

10.09.2003

A Male Lesbian Whose Appeal Is Mainly Cerebral: "Mr. Izzard is undoubtedly seductive, but his brand of seduction aims directly at the head, not below the belt. After a couple of hours in his company, your mind is likely to be so crammed with the odds and ends — mostly odds — of what he's been saying, that you have no room left for your own thoughts."

Wouldn't it be cool if we could get in to see him tomorrow or Saturday night?

BOCKAA!!!

I just got an e-mail from a co-worker, claiming to contain "possibly the very best chicken joke ever." I may have to agree with that assessment:

A chicken and an egg are lying in bed. The chicken is leaning against the
headboard smoking a cigarette with a satisfied smile on its face.

The egg, looking a bit pissed off, grabs the sheet, rolls over and
says;"Well, I guess we finally answered THAT question."

10.07.2003

I finished reading "Mystic River" last night. It's a superlative piece of crime fiction, but it's also more than that, I think, almost a Shakespearean tragedy. Cannot wait to see the movie.

Angry Moroccan teacher throws pupils out of window: "'They did not listen. They should have listened."

While this is certainly taking punishment a bit too far, I wonder how many teachers around the world have wanted at some point to do exactly what that woman did?

10.06.2003

Will Eddie Izzard be the new Dr Who? I don't know about him in a leading role. I think he works better with a low-movie-profile, playing supporting characters.

Speaking of Eddie, his tour hits NYC this week, starting tomorrow night. I tried to get tickets to Friday night's show, but they were sold out long ago. (I've already got tickets to see him in Boston on the 24th of this month - yay!) I called and the ticket sales agent said that there were some on hold and I might want to call some time this week in case they are released. In any event, I'll be heading to NYC anyway on Friday, for a night out on the town with Colleen, and staying with her for the weekend. We're going to try to see a show that night, if not Eddie then maybe Hugh Jackman in "The Boy From Oz". Whatever we do, I'm sure we'll have a great time.

Reading, Writing, and Rocking: "The new comedy School of Rock (Paramount) is uncut bliss: It had me buzzing, bopping up and down in my seat, practically pogoing out of the theater playing air guitar. I scribbled superlatives in my notebook; I heard myself tell a colleague, 'Dude, that movie rocked.' I wonder, now that the ecstasy has dissipated a bit (but only a bit), how a formulaic farce-heart-warmer about a fake teacher and a bunch of 10-year-olds could be such a mystical experience—one of the biggest highs I've had at the movies in years. "

Yet another must-see-movie on my list. Jack Black teaching a bunch of middle-schoolers how to rock? Talk about a sure thing.

Elderly farmers' wives shown erotic film by mistake: "'We found it very interesting to see men can hold on for such a long time."

Cat saves drowning lamb: "Gardeners Adrian Bunton and Karen Lewis knew something was wrong when they found their cat in an agitated state, miaowing and trying to communicate something."

Frog eggs fell from sky in hurricane: "Hurricane Isabel brought unholy high winds and lashing rain to the East Coast. It also dumped something almost biblical on Connecticut. "

Mulder, frogs just fell from the sky!

Conn. Woman Convicted in Son's Suicide: "A woman was convicted Monday of contributing to the suicide of her 12-year-old son, who hanged himself in his closet with a necktie after being picked on for months at school over his bad breath and body odor."

What a sad story. If she did indeed try to get him to clean himself up, is she guilty of contributing to his death? Could she in reality have forced him to bathe? I suppose the answer is different, depending on the kid. And, based only on what they said in the article, I'd have to say that she should have made more of an effort to get him some kind of counseling. Soiling your pants in the morning so you won't have to go to school? The alarm bells should have been clanging.

10.03.2003

Celebrities Urge 'No' Vote on Recall.

Or, "Celebrities Who Will Never Work on a Schwarzenegger Project".

Dark Parable of Violence Avenged: "'Mystic River' is the rare American movie that aspires to — and achieves — the full weight and darkness of tragedy."

Damn, I can't finish reading this soon enough! I can only read the intro to reviews because I don't want to be spoiled, but all that I have read has been glowing. I'm a big fan of Eastwood-directed movies, and I think Sean Penn puts most of today's actors to shame, and to think of the 2 of them putting this heartbreak on screen, God I can't wait. I must finish the book this weekend.

Oh, and BTW, I recommend the book (see link on left).

10.01.2003

Tale of the Clooney conwoman: "“Now the mother supposedly has a sister who supposedly killed herself — she did it on George’s answering machine,” says Rosenfield. “And the mother is suing George for wrongful death. But the woman and the daughter and the sister are all the same person.”"

Man charged in cathedral sex stunt dies: "A man who was to appear in court Tuesday on charges of having sex with his girlfriend inside St. Patrick's Cathedral as part of a radio show stunt has died at his home in Virginia, his lawyer said. "

Police are reporting eyewitness accounts of a mysterious man with long white hair and beard, dressed in white robes and wearing sandals, seen in the vicinity of the victim's home near to the time of his death.