Hair returns!

http://www.hairbroadway.com/

The fabulous show will start a new run in February and this time you can buy tickets like regular. I will always treasure my free and fabulous Central Park experience but for all of those who missed out the first time, don't make the same mistake again!

Iron Chef Surprise

It was another New York Moment. I was wandering around the NYC streets as I often do when I'm bored and walked by the Union Square Barnes and Noble. They had a sign in the window that said "Mario Batali, discussion and book signing at 7pm." I looked at my watch. 6:59pm. Woot! So I went up to the fourth floor, grabbed one of the few seats left and listened to the charming Iron Chef describe how he makes the perfect Thanksgiving turkey (let's just say its a four day process). It was also neat because his show "Spain: On the Road" with Gwyenth Paltrow airs on 13/WNET and I was just watching it earlier that day while doing the copying. I also went to Otto, one of Batali's cheaper restaurants and it was quite good. The olive oil gelato was intersting and tasty. So, thank's NYC! If only I could meet Ramsey, sigh.

Side note: I swear I saw Laura Linney on the way to work today but she's already on my celeb list so it doesn't count.

Christina vs Britney, again

They're back! After taking long breaks, the blond mouseketeers have emerged in sync (no pun intended) and ready to do radio battle. So between their last records both pop divas have married and had babies- yet Christina has flown way under the radar while Britney has become a popwreck in front of all America. Now Brit is back, apparently unscathed and still as wildly popular. Why? Why when Christina outdoes her as an artist? The two might actually be equal vocalists, but Britney has always preferred a highly stylized talk-sing or baby-sing method over Christina's power ballads.

But Britney always has been and always will be about image and story. Her success is atributable to her various personas and the way she is involved with a manipulation of narrative. Her trajectory: the start as an innocent southern belle catapulted to fame in the ultimate American dream, then her toxic love story complete with two babies, then the decent into craziness where fame took its toll, and then the triumphant comeback (still in progress). The girl knows how to follow a cliched storyline and milk it for all its worth.

Listening to her new album Circus, I couldn't help but wonder what her sons will think in twenty years when they begin to understand her as a pop singer instead of Mom. Now that'll be good TV.

wow...wait, we won??!?!?!!!

Last night I watched the election results with a small group of dedicated liberals. We were all on our second (or third) beer when suddenly, out of the stinking pit of nonsensical time filling bs and way to early to be accurate projections on the red and blues, the title "OBAMA WINS" appeared across the screen. Could it be that easy? Could he simply win without recounts, hanging chads, corrupt officials or inefficient voting delays? Could it be as sweet as a landslide?? Yes.

The atmosphere in NYC was electric. People were screaming and hollering in the subways and on the streets. Giving high fives to strangers. Honking non stop. Banging pans on the roof. Setting off fireworks. There is hope now. As Bob the Builder says: "Can we fix it? Yes we can!" As a recovering cynic, I say- 8 years of change?

On Grey's Lesbian Axe

I've been watching Grey's again primarily because I heart Callie (played by Sara Ramirez). Although her previous storylines with George have been unbelievable, I still like the character. It's always delicious to me when a side character gets pulled central because they are just too interesting for the writers to leave alone (Joss Whedon was fond of this tactic). Callie is fat and yummy and sexy and smart...and maybe a tiny bit of a coward. She's easy to identify with and root for and she's not a part of the clique, and so has an interesting pov.

Callie's psuedo-lesbian relationship with Erica Hahn (played by Brooke Smith) was undoubtedly the most interesting relationship on the show. Even though it never really developed into a real relationship, the hint of it was ten times more interesting than all of the recycled heterosexual unions. I like the hard, fierce, smart women on Greys- Erica and Christina are the first level of intelligence and no-nonsense, then there is Bailey and Callie who both absolutely know what they are doing but also can access their emotions more easily. Izzy and Mer are boring now. Their craziness has peaked and waned.

As I was saying, I was watching Grey's for Callie. And then they fired Brooke Smith after she was amazing (look up the "glasses" speech, it was a fine piece of writing and acting)! It is so disappointing to see the freshest, most untraveled plotline axed before it had a chance to shine. Why do something new? Let's break up Mer and Der again...and again...and again.

I say it is a bad move for a dying show to cut off its only bit of originality so far this season.

It's time to BARACK the vote

I voted today. It was a painless process really. I got two hours off from work so I woke up at my regular time, walked over to the local PS, got in line and voted in about 20 minutes. Sunset Park had a steady and slightly disorganized presence. The volunteers were a bit ruffled but were able to coral everybody in and out of the voting booth. I have to say the old voting machines are pleasurably physical. It's very satisfying to pull and push levers and see a little X mark the spot. In my dreams it would have been Hillary with an X next to her name, but as long as Obama can pull this off I will be a happy girl.

Feeling in a civil service mood and with an hour to kill, I made my way to the Manhattan DMV Express office and traded in my Texas license (from when I was seventeen or eighteen!) which expires this year on my birthday for a NYS one. A final transition. I was impressed by all the bureaucratic efficiency. Nothing to complain about really.

Now it's time to wait. and bite my nails. time to barack and roll!

Halloween

I had the good luck to watch the NYC Village Halloween parade from the rooftop of a friend's apartment on 6th Avenue only feet away from the West 4th stop. We climbed out his kitchen window, up the fire escape and a scary ladder and clambered on to the roof. The parade was pretty cool- a writhing mass of drunken costumed crazy New Yorkers. Just about as opposite from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as you can get. There were some neat costumes- a group of pizza slices that came together to make a whole pizza, the required Jedi and Storm Troopers, a fantastically accurate Juno & Co. Overall, not as many Jokers or Palins as I was expecting. Instead there were an awful lot of bananas.

Halloween is a madhouse in the city. It's a carnivalesque highly politically and socially charged moment only restrained by the very prominent police presence (because the party was on 6th avenue, we had to have someone from the apartment come get us and escort us to the door. the police had barricaded the entire block). To me, it felt only a bit short of an Obama rally what with the political floats and costumes- lots of get rid of george bush signs/costumes. It's also widly unorganized which also makes it very Village-y. People in homemade costumes dance down the street and the occasional shoddy but enthusiastic float comes by, punctuated by local bands. Fun night!