Saturday, July 11, 2009
No iPhone, at least not today...first place we went didn't have them, so we went to Worcester, and all they had was the 32G white, and I want the 16G black. I guess I have to wait til next week to get one. sigh...I did, however, pick up the new Rob Thomas, Brad Paisley and Theory of a Deadman cd's and will give them a listen tonight.
Success!
Got the Steady Rain tickets, took about 45 minutes to get through, and saw The Hurt Locker last night. It was magnificent. I'm still thinking about it, and haven't really been able to form a complete opinion, other than it was excellent. iPhone purchase today, HUZZAH!
Friday, July 10, 2009
TGIF
The Newsies find from youtube on Wednesday was gold - I think that I’ve probably watched it about 10 times (ok, that might be an exaggeration), it’s just THAT good. I also realized that I have yet to post my review of Public Enemies, which I saw a week ago.
There was a lot of buzz about this, not only for Johnny Depp’s performance, but because long-time Michael Mann cinematographer Dante Spinotti shot the entire film in HD - meaning that there were some absolutely beautiful wide shots, one in particular was at the beginning jail break, but when it came to indoor/dark close-ups, it was a little too pixilated, but that’s the trade-off with HD. It did have a really slick look to it, and the period costumes and set design were also pretty awesome. My biggest problem/disappointment, was the story…it was just so blah. I didn’t really care for the characters (created from a script by director Mann, and Anne Bidderman; writer/creator of my favorite new drama from last season, Southland), there was never really any explanation or set up for Dillinger, or why he did what he did. The shoot-out scenes were intense and beautifully shot (it was much more violent than I anticipated), but the characters didn’t really have too much to say between the gunfire. And from what I’ve read, the writers also took some liberties with rewriting history, but I can look past that. The performances were just ok, though Marion Cotillard lit up the screen in every scene she was in as Dillinger’s love interest Billie Frechette., and there were cameos galore; Billy Crudup, Channing Tatum, Leelee Sobieskee (where have you been hiding?!). Bale and Depp were just ok - although I’m somewhat fascinated that Johnny Depp can, for the most part, completely transform from one character into another--to bad the same can’t be said for Christian Bale--but overall I was a little disappointed with this. Public Enemies was supposed to be the summer movie that would go onto Oscar gold, and that still might happen with 10 Best Picture slots, but I was expecting a much more interesting and engaging film. Grade: B -
Wednesday I went to the gym (the PF) with Meredith from work, and we did speed intervals. At first, I was really hesitant about doing them, but I want to work on my time (I’d love to break 2 hours, but I don’t think that’s a realistic goal quite yet), and Meredith said this was a really good way to do it. She printed out this sheet with the 30 minute session, and we were off. You basically alternated speeds for a minute at a time. It was a little tough, but I did ok - I was super tired at the end and sweating like whoa, but it was a good work out.
Glad that the Michael Jackson hoopla is starting to die down (pun intended) - it’s sad that he died, but seriously? Does it warrant as much coverage it’s gotten? I don’t think so. Shep Smith apparently said on Fox News Wednesday that the LAPD and the city of Los Angeles closed the free way at rush hour for the procession…seriously?! I'm over it, yeah, he was a legend, but do we need to be inundated with coverage for 2+ weeks? I don't think so.
Finally got around to seeing Role Models last night (I know, I'm about 6 months behind) and really liked it, even if it was totally predictable. Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott had great chemistry, and the two kids were great too. There were a couple of great one-liners, my favorite being, of course, the whispering eye. Not quite as funny as I Love You Man, but better than The Hangover. Wish I had seen this in theaters, I'm sure I would have laughed more than I did sitting on the couch. Grade: B+
The MOS got some really exciting news yesterday, but I sadly can't share til the end of the summer, but you can bet that at the first possible minute I can, I will.
Going to see The Hurt Locker tonight, which I've heard marvelous things about (like it's the current Best Picture front-runner), so expect a full report on that over the weekend.
Getting tickets to A Steady Rain, a new drama starring Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig and an iPhone tomorrow. You know, no big deal.
There was a lot of buzz about this, not only for Johnny Depp’s performance, but because long-time Michael Mann cinematographer Dante Spinotti shot the entire film in HD - meaning that there were some absolutely beautiful wide shots, one in particular was at the beginning jail break, but when it came to indoor/dark close-ups, it was a little too pixilated, but that’s the trade-off with HD. It did have a really slick look to it, and the period costumes and set design were also pretty awesome. My biggest problem/disappointment, was the story…it was just so blah. I didn’t really care for the characters (created from a script by director Mann, and Anne Bidderman; writer/creator of my favorite new drama from last season, Southland), there was never really any explanation or set up for Dillinger, or why he did what he did. The shoot-out scenes were intense and beautifully shot (it was much more violent than I anticipated), but the characters didn’t really have too much to say between the gunfire. And from what I’ve read, the writers also took some liberties with rewriting history, but I can look past that. The performances were just ok, though Marion Cotillard lit up the screen in every scene she was in as Dillinger’s love interest Billie Frechette., and there were cameos galore; Billy Crudup, Channing Tatum, Leelee Sobieskee (where have you been hiding?!). Bale and Depp were just ok - although I’m somewhat fascinated that Johnny Depp can, for the most part, completely transform from one character into another--to bad the same can’t be said for Christian Bale--but overall I was a little disappointed with this. Public Enemies was supposed to be the summer movie that would go onto Oscar gold, and that still might happen with 10 Best Picture slots, but I was expecting a much more interesting and engaging film. Grade: B -Wednesday I went to the gym (the PF) with Meredith from work, and we did speed intervals. At first, I was really hesitant about doing them, but I want to work on my time (I’d love to break 2 hours, but I don’t think that’s a realistic goal quite yet), and Meredith said this was a really good way to do it. She printed out this sheet with the 30 minute session, and we were off. You basically alternated speeds for a minute at a time. It was a little tough, but I did ok - I was super tired at the end and sweating like whoa, but it was a good work out.
Glad that the Michael Jackson hoopla is starting to die down (pun intended) - it’s sad that he died, but seriously? Does it warrant as much coverage it’s gotten? I don’t think so. Shep Smith apparently said on Fox News Wednesday that the LAPD and the city of Los Angeles closed the free way at rush hour for the procession…seriously?! I'm over it, yeah, he was a legend, but do we need to be inundated with coverage for 2+ weeks? I don't think so.
Finally got around to seeing Role Models last night (I know, I'm about 6 months behind) and really liked it, even if it was totally predictable. Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott had great chemistry, and the two kids were great too. There were a couple of great one-liners, my favorite being, of course, the whispering eye. Not quite as funny as I Love You Man, but better than The Hangover. Wish I had seen this in theaters, I'm sure I would have laughed more than I did sitting on the couch. Grade: B+
The MOS got some really exciting news yesterday, but I sadly can't share til the end of the summer, but you can bet that at the first possible minute I can, I will.
Going to see The Hurt Locker tonight, which I've heard marvelous things about (like it's the current Best Picture front-runner), so expect a full report on that over the weekend.
Getting tickets to A Steady Rain, a new drama starring Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig and an iPhone tomorrow. You know, no big deal.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Extra! Extra!
Stumbled across this today on youtube, it's the UC Irvine ΠΚΑ chapter's entry to their Greek Week songfest from 2006. It. is. awesome. amazing. incredible. fantastic. Seriously, this is un-FREAKING-believable...
Boys from Theta Mu - I think this is a challenge for Greek Week 2010....
For those of you unfamiliar with Newsies, you need to rent it, like, yesterday, and here's some background on it.
Boys from Theta Mu - I think this is a challenge for Greek Week 2010....
For those of you unfamiliar with Newsies, you need to rent it, like, yesterday, and here's some background on it.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Weekend Update
Happy Birthday America! I'm proud to deem this weekend wonderfully successful. It started out Friday with a morning trip to the gym (where I saw a woman working out in crocs...yes, CROCS), followed by a screening of Public Enemies (full review coming soon) at the Somerville Theater with Katie Weinmann and Miss Alison Hay, followed by a wonderful dinner at Grendel's Den in Harvard Square and a walk through Harvard Yard (where I did NOT pahk my cah, thanks) also with Miss Hay.
Yesterday was a day of baseball and drinking - the celebration commenced at 11am at the Baseball Tavern for a roof deck all-you-can eat/drink pre-game party with Jess, her boyfriend Matt, Molly, Czabaj, his girlfriend Diana and his friend Dan (where I had quite a few Stella's), followed by the Sox/Mariners 4th of July matinee which was ridiculously fun (the parts that I remember), even though the Sox lost (2nd game in a row lost by the bull pen). After the game, we headed to the Pour House to refuel, and then headed to Faniuel Hall to meet up with James, Katie, Dev, Greg, Andrew, Katie and Barrett - we tried to go to the Esplanade, but it was incredibly crowded, so we split up - Jess, Matt and I ended up at my uncle's place (the 37th floor of the Ritz-Carlton, facing the river) to watch the fireworks - it was spectacular, and absolutely incredible view.
Today was the announcement of the 2009 MLB All-Star rosters, 66 players will represent the 30 MLB teams, with each team having at least 1 representative, even the Nationals. The game is July 14th in Busch Stadium in St. Louis, with home field advantage for the World Series at stake. The Sox will have the most representatives, with six.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Starters
C Joe Mauer - MIN
1B Mark Teixiera - NNY
2B Dustin Pedroia - BOS
SS Derek Jeter - NNY
3B Evan Longoria - TB
OF Jason Bay - BOS
OF Ichiro Suzuki - SEA
OF Josh Hamilton - TEX
Pitchers
Andrew Bailey - OAK, Josh Beckett – BOS, Mark Buehrle – CWS, Brian Fuentes – LAA, Zack Greinke – KC (probable starter), Roy Halladay – TOR, Felix Hernandez – SEA, Edwin Jackson – DET, Joe Nathan – MIN, Jonathan Papelbon – BOS, Mariano Rivera – NYY, Justin Verlander – DET, Tim Wakefield – BOS
Reserves
C Victor Martinez - CLE, 1B Justin Morneau - MIN, 1B Kevin Youkilis - BOS, 2B Aaron Hill - TOR, SS Jason Bartlett - TB, 3B Michael Young - TEX, OF Carl Crawford - TB, OF Curtis Granderson - DET, OF Torii Hunter - LAA, OF Adam Jones - BAL, OF Ben Zobrist - TB
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Starters
C Yadier Molina - STL
1B Albert Pujols - STL
2B Chase Utley - PHI
SS Hanley Ramirez - FLA
3B David Wright - NYM
OF Carlos Beltran - NYM
OF Ryan Braun - MIL
OF Raul Ibanez - PHI
Pitchers
Heath Bell - SD, Chad Billingsley - LAD, Jonathan Broxton - LAD, Matt Cain - SF, Francisco Cordero - CIN, Ryan Franklin - STL, Dan Haren - ARI, Josh Johnson - FLA, Ted Lilly - CHC, Tim Lincecum - SF (probable starter), Jason Marquis - COL, Francisco Rodriguez - NYM, Johan Santana - NYM
Reserves
C Brian McCann - ATL, 1B Prince Fielder - MIL, 1B Adrian Gonzalez - SD, 1B Ryan Howard - PHI, 2B Orlando Hudson - LAD, 2B Freddy Sanchez - PIT, SS Miguel Tejada - HOU, 3B Ryan Zimmerman - WSH, OF Brad Hawpe - COL, OF Hunter Pence - HOU, OF Justin Upton - ARI
Tim Wakefield got a loud, sustained ovation today when it was announced that at age 42 and after 17 years in the major leagues, he had been elected to his first All-Star game. I let out a little cheer as I was watching the selection when his name was revealed, and the hosts of the show, Eck, Cal Ripken, David Wells and some other guy from TBS, were all genuinely excited for Wakefield. It should be an exciting game, the AL has an 11 game win streak dating back to 1997. The 2010 All Star game will be hosted by the LA Angels, 2011 by the Arizona Diamondbacks, and, rumor has it, Fenway Park will host the 2012 All-Star Game to celebrate Fenway's 100th anniversary. That would be sick - I can't imagine what tickets would go for, but you can bet that I've already started saving, haha.
Back to the grind in the AM, but I think that it's only supposed to rain 3 days this week! Hooray!
Yesterday was a day of baseball and drinking - the celebration commenced at 11am at the Baseball Tavern for a roof deck all-you-can eat/drink pre-game party with Jess, her boyfriend Matt, Molly, Czabaj, his girlfriend Diana and his friend Dan (where I had quite a few Stella's), followed by the Sox/Mariners 4th of July matinee which was ridiculously fun (the parts that I remember), even though the Sox lost (2nd game in a row lost by the bull pen). After the game, we headed to the Pour House to refuel, and then headed to Faniuel Hall to meet up with James, Katie, Dev, Greg, Andrew, Katie and Barrett - we tried to go to the Esplanade, but it was incredibly crowded, so we split up - Jess, Matt and I ended up at my uncle's place (the 37th floor of the Ritz-Carlton, facing the river) to watch the fireworks - it was spectacular, and absolutely incredible view.
Today was the announcement of the 2009 MLB All-Star rosters, 66 players will represent the 30 MLB teams, with each team having at least 1 representative, even the Nationals. The game is July 14th in Busch Stadium in St. Louis, with home field advantage for the World Series at stake. The Sox will have the most representatives, with six.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Starters
C Joe Mauer - MIN
1B Mark Teixiera - NNY
2B Dustin Pedroia - BOS
SS Derek Jeter - NNY
3B Evan Longoria - TB
OF Jason Bay - BOS
OF Ichiro Suzuki - SEA
OF Josh Hamilton - TEX
Pitchers
Andrew Bailey - OAK, Josh Beckett – BOS, Mark Buehrle – CWS, Brian Fuentes – LAA, Zack Greinke – KC (probable starter), Roy Halladay – TOR, Felix Hernandez – SEA, Edwin Jackson – DET, Joe Nathan – MIN, Jonathan Papelbon – BOS, Mariano Rivera – NYY, Justin Verlander – DET, Tim Wakefield – BOS
Reserves
C Victor Martinez - CLE, 1B Justin Morneau - MIN, 1B Kevin Youkilis - BOS, 2B Aaron Hill - TOR, SS Jason Bartlett - TB, 3B Michael Young - TEX, OF Carl Crawford - TB, OF Curtis Granderson - DET, OF Torii Hunter - LAA, OF Adam Jones - BAL, OF Ben Zobrist - TB
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Starters
C Yadier Molina - STL
1B Albert Pujols - STL
2B Chase Utley - PHI
SS Hanley Ramirez - FLA
3B David Wright - NYM
OF Carlos Beltran - NYM
OF Ryan Braun - MIL
OF Raul Ibanez - PHI
Pitchers
Heath Bell - SD, Chad Billingsley - LAD, Jonathan Broxton - LAD, Matt Cain - SF, Francisco Cordero - CIN, Ryan Franklin - STL, Dan Haren - ARI, Josh Johnson - FLA, Ted Lilly - CHC, Tim Lincecum - SF (probable starter), Jason Marquis - COL, Francisco Rodriguez - NYM, Johan Santana - NYM
Reserves
C Brian McCann - ATL, 1B Prince Fielder - MIL, 1B Adrian Gonzalez - SD, 1B Ryan Howard - PHI, 2B Orlando Hudson - LAD, 2B Freddy Sanchez - PIT, SS Miguel Tejada - HOU, 3B Ryan Zimmerman - WSH, OF Brad Hawpe - COL, OF Hunter Pence - HOU, OF Justin Upton - ARI
Tim Wakefield got a loud, sustained ovation today when it was announced that at age 42 and after 17 years in the major leagues, he had been elected to his first All-Star game. I let out a little cheer as I was watching the selection when his name was revealed, and the hosts of the show, Eck, Cal Ripken, David Wells and some other guy from TBS, were all genuinely excited for Wakefield. It should be an exciting game, the AL has an 11 game win streak dating back to 1997. The 2010 All Star game will be hosted by the LA Angels, 2011 by the Arizona Diamondbacks, and, rumor has it, Fenway Park will host the 2012 All-Star Game to celebrate Fenway's 100th anniversary. That would be sick - I can't imagine what tickets would go for, but you can bet that I've already started saving, haha.
Back to the grind in the AM, but I think that it's only supposed to rain 3 days this week! Hooray!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
The 2009-2010 Forecast
There are currently three major musicals scheduled to open in New York between now and May 1, 2010, and they're all really exciting, for very different reasons. I already have tickets to one of them, and am anxiously awaiting to get tickets to the others.
Courtesy 5th Avenue Theatre
Currently rehearsing in Seattle for a July 23rd opening, Catch Me If You Can is indeed based on the 2002 Spielberg film of the same name. The creative team behind this is what excites me the most, music and lyrics are by Marc Shaiman and Scott Whitman, choreography is from Jerry Mitchell and Jack O'Brien directs - this is the team that brought the sensational Hairspray to Broadway (also by way of Seattle) in 2002. There are clips on youtube of a press preview in Seattle from last week; the score sounds interesting, and the three leads Aaron Tveit, Norbert Leo Butz and Tom Wopat (I know those names probably mean nothing to most of you) sounded great. Once reviews come out of Seattle (early August), expect a spring arrival in a theater to be named.
Based on Charles Addams classic comics from The New Yorker, Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuworh will star as Gomez and Morticia, respectively, in this new musical. The plot revloves around Wednesday, now 18, and her "normal" boyfriend and his family. Hillarity will no doubt ensue. A Chicago try-out is planned November - January, with an April 8, 2010 opening at the (rumored) Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Get your tickets now (well, as soon as they go on sale), the starry casting leads me to believe that The Addams Family has the potential to be the next Producers, an audience and critic super-smash that you'll have to wait a year to get tickets. A show like this comes along about once every 5/6 years (think Rent, The Lion King, The Producers) and with Billy Elliot still needing to prove itself, The Addams Family seems like a sure bet.
courtesy Marvel Comics
Courtesy 5th Avenue TheatreCurrently rehearsing in Seattle for a July 23rd opening, Catch Me If You Can is indeed based on the 2002 Spielberg film of the same name. The creative team behind this is what excites me the most, music and lyrics are by Marc Shaiman and Scott Whitman, choreography is from Jerry Mitchell and Jack O'Brien directs - this is the team that brought the sensational Hairspray to Broadway (also by way of Seattle) in 2002. There are clips on youtube of a press preview in Seattle from last week; the score sounds interesting, and the three leads Aaron Tveit, Norbert Leo Butz and Tom Wopat (I know those names probably mean nothing to most of you) sounded great. Once reviews come out of Seattle (early August), expect a spring arrival in a theater to be named.
Based on Charles Addams classic comics from The New Yorker, Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuworh will star as Gomez and Morticia, respectively, in this new musical. The plot revloves around Wednesday, now 18, and her "normal" boyfriend and his family. Hillarity will no doubt ensue. A Chicago try-out is planned November - January, with an April 8, 2010 opening at the (rumored) Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Get your tickets now (well, as soon as they go on sale), the starry casting leads me to believe that The Addams Family has the potential to be the next Producers, an audience and critic super-smash that you'll have to wait a year to get tickets. A show like this comes along about once every 5/6 years (think Rent, The Lion King, The Producers) and with Billy Elliot still needing to prove itself, The Addams Family seems like a sure bet.
courtesy Marvel ComicsBono. The Edge. Julie Taymor. An epic something is in the making, disaster or success. Manhattan has been abuzz with Spider-Man since it was announced in 2001. This was supposed to be Taymor's follow-up to her sensational production of The Lion King, and once Bono and the Edge were attached, it got that much more awesome. It's now a reality. The budget is soaring close to $50 million. Previews have already been pushed back a month from the originallay announced Janaury 16th 2010 at the Hilton Theatre to February 25th, 2010. I had tickets for February 20th (the Saturday after opening) but had to exchange them for April 3rd. Alan Cumming has been cast as The Green Goblin, Evan Rachel Wood will play Mary Jane, and the hope is that Jim Sturgess (from Taymor's Across the Universe) will play the titular hero. The title is a bit much for me, turn off the dark...really? I think that this will have success a la Wicked, where it recieves mixed-to-negative reviews but will have mass audience appeal. Either way, I'm excited for it. Tickets are currently on sale to AmEx card holders via ticketmaster, and the general public on sale date is September 1.
There are other exciting shows too - revivals of A Little Night Music, Bye Bye Birdie (with Uncle Jessie!), Finnian's Rainbow and Ragtime--that one I'm most excited about--as well as some other new musicals that are while not as high profile, they're exciting, Memphis, about the birth of rock and roll in, you guess it, Memphis, and Fela!...I'm not sure what the latter is about, but it got extremely positive buzz off-broadway last year.
There are quite a few exciting plays too, the most anticipated is the all-but announced A Steady Rain, a two-hander starring Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig (Telecharge better prep their servers now, they crashed in 2005 when Julia Roberts in Three Days of Rain went on sale), Tracy Lett's follow-up to his award-winning August: Osage County, Superior Donuts, and the Donmar Warehouse's production of Hamlet, with Jude Law as the tourmented prince (I got tickets for $25, I'm going November 14th). And that's just the fall!
Want to take a field trip to see any and or all of these?
There are other exciting shows too - revivals of A Little Night Music, Bye Bye Birdie (with Uncle Jessie!), Finnian's Rainbow and Ragtime--that one I'm most excited about--as well as some other new musicals that are while not as high profile, they're exciting, Memphis, about the birth of rock and roll in, you guess it, Memphis, and Fela!...I'm not sure what the latter is about, but it got extremely positive buzz off-broadway last year.
There are quite a few exciting plays too, the most anticipated is the all-but announced A Steady Rain, a two-hander starring Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig (Telecharge better prep their servers now, they crashed in 2005 when Julia Roberts in Three Days of Rain went on sale), Tracy Lett's follow-up to his award-winning August: Osage County, Superior Donuts, and the Donmar Warehouse's production of Hamlet, with Jude Law as the tourmented prince (I got tickets for $25, I'm going November 14th). And that's just the fall!
Want to take a field trip to see any and or all of these?
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Love That Dirty Water...
photo courtesy of the APRocco Baldelli drives in Jacoby Ellsbury and Jeff Bailey to tie the game in the 9th
The Sox showed signs of life during the 9th and come back to win in dramatic fashion to beat the Baltimore Orioles in the 11th inning at Camden Yards. Sox wins, gain a game in the AL East, and all is right with the world. I watched the last inning at the gym, and there was a giant cheer when the final out was made, it was pretty cool. Did 3.5 miles today, felt pretty good. And I think the sun came out on the way home....
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