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Yes! It was Kevin Bacon (see previous post)! He was also walking the dog seen in the pics here.

Last Day in NYC!

I went to see the Kandinsky exhibit at the Guggenheim this morning, but it was so insanely crowded, I didn't bother going in. Instead, I want for a big photography walk in Central Park and then walked towards the theatre district for a matinee.

As I passed through the Upper West side, a guy in a toque and sunglasses was walking two dogs, one of which was a super cute pitbull puppy. I asked him if I could meet it and bent down for a pat and nuzzle. I said thank you and moved on my way, then did a double-take. "Hey!" I said. "That was Kevin Bacon!"

From there, I moved on to see the a preview of the revival of Sondheim's "A Little Night Music," starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury. They're still getting it right, but I think it will be very good in a couple of weeks when it opens. Zeta-Jones seems the least comfortable on stage of the whole cast and has the worst singing voice and enunciation, but she's still right for the part and has good chemistry with everyone.

Lansbury, at 80, was a wonder, and the whole play was sweet, sad, hilarious and very well acted.

I've seen five Sondheim revivals in recent years (Sweeney Todd, Assassins, Pacific Overtures, Company and now this one) and what I keep noting is that his intricate wordplays and jokes are not just good on paper or on record... they actually land in the ear. The jokes, even flying by in patter songs, make the audience laugh. His talent is obvious; but his mastery of his craft is astonishing, too.

the second printing of the pfsc book arrives next week, you'll need to order it soon if you want it for christmastimes

santana v. - totensamba

1. I have been buying some cute cardigans lately, and I am wondering something: Do I have to buy them too small to do up, so they'll look cute and fitted undone? That's what I have been doing!

2. A lot of people chimed in with some good suggestions on streaming lining one's morning routine. Inspired by kira_lynn's pointing out that the effetiveness of choosing an outfit the night before can be totally derailed if you can't find the right hosiery, I went out and bought two new pairs of tights and 7 identical pairs of black tights. GENIUS. Oh also, underwear.

3. To help you sleep in even MORE, I invite folks to re-read all the genius tips y'all shared last year re: how to appear to be more recently-showered than you are.

4. Another thing that is helping me in the morning is having a haircut I like. I think partly it helps that it's short, but mostly it just helps that I like it. Because one can spend a lot of time trying to make hair one doesn't like look different than it does! Anyway, I got it cut again yesterday, because it was already getting pretty mushroom-y on my head. I guess 5 weeks is about right between haircuts for shorter hair? It wasn't a disaster, just sort of bouffant.

5. I like you!

Hey guys, I ordered my camera, it's this one. It turns out that the really cheap ones I saw are more intro models, and probably don't have quite the power I want for decent portfolio shots. Thankfully, this one, which is a newer model of my original, just went on sale this week. Yay!

I just woke from a fever dream nightmare where I was a performance artist doing a naked interpretive dance of what it would be like to give birth to a duck.

Hrm... this revelation proves that no, I don't seem to have enough of a sense of self preservation to avoid blogging while delirious with fever.

In other news, I may have swine flu. Booo! Hisss!

If yr waffling on buying the new Bauhaus "Omnibus" editions of "In The Flat Field" and "Mask", I strongly urge you to give in. The remastering on the original LPs is tasteful (no huge differences from the 1998 versions, at least on the sub-par systems on which I've been listening to them, slight improvements in clarity and more bass), and the bonus material's a treat (especially if you get the "...And Remains" disc which is included with orders from Beggars themselves): you get a sloppy run-through of "Cracked Actor" before they take an early stab at "Ziggy", an alternate album mix of "Hair of the Dog" that shows just how much David was jacking "Peter Gunn", a completely random dub experiment from David and Daniel, and some ripping live shit.

The presentation's fantastic. Replica gatefold LP sleeves, hella detailed booklets with plenty of photos I'd never seen. Very much looking forward to the second pair of albums, and, if rumours are true, some This Mortal Coil reissues in the same series.

Well, this morning was nice. I went with my sister to pick up Thanksgiving food and then she drove me all around old Roslyn — the grist mill, Bryant's home (as in Bryant Park in Manhattan), the picturesque churches and the river side.

Then I made pancakes for everyone and got to know my nephew's boyfriend who is charming and really sweet (he was the one who took it upon himself to clean up after dinner last night — something my sister's kids wouldn't do without being asked). He grew up Orthodox, but is now somewhere between Conservative and Reform. Hilariously, when his dad was out of work, he got him the job as CFO of a big LBGT Jewish organization.

I didn't tell him that I had already cyber-stalked him back in Toronto, because that would have been rude...

I'm on Long Island at my sister's this week. I planned my trip down here without realizing it was US Thanksgiving and that my nephews and my niece would be here, so it's pretty fun. Especially since my nephew just came out and his boyfriend is here.

The last two days have actually been mostly spent in Brooklyn. ( Read more... )

So that's the good part of the trip. What is strange is life with my family. ( Read more... )

Oh well. On Friday I'm seeing Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury in the revival of "A Little Night Music," so no one is cooler than me.

Philostratus the Younger, Imagines 2 (trans. Fairbanks) (Greek rhetorician C3rd A.D.) :
“[Ostensibly a description of an ancient Greek painting :] Marsyas. The Phrygian has been overcome; at any rate his glance is that of a man already perished, since he knows what he is to suffer, and he realizes that he has played the flute for the last time, inasmuch as inopportunely he acted with effrontery toward [Apollon] the son of Leto. His flute has been thrown away, condemned never to be played again, since just now it has been convicted of playing out of tune. And he stands near the pine tree from which he knows he will be suspended, he himself having named this penalty for himself–to be skinned for a wine-sack. He glances furtively at the barbarian yonder who is whetting the edge of the knife to be applied to him; for you see, I am sure, that the man’s hands are on the whetstone and the iron, but that he looks up at Marsyas with glaring eyes, his wild and squalid hair all bristling. The red on his cheek betokens, I think, a man thirsty for blood, and his eyebrow overhands the eye, all contracted as it faces the light and giving a certain stamp to his anger; nay, he grins, too, a savage grin in anticipation of what he is about to do–I am not sure whether because he is glad or because his mind swells in pride as he looks forward to the slaughter. But Apollon is painted as resting upon a rock; the lyre which lies on his left arm is still being struck by his left hand in gentle fashion, as though playing a tune. You see the relaxed form of the god and the smile lighting up his face; his right hand rests on his lap, gently grasping the plectrum, relaxed because of his joy in the victory. Here also is the river which is to change its name to that of Marsyas. And look, please, at the band of Satyroi, how they are represented as bewailing Marsyas, but as displaying, along with their grief, their playful spirit and their disposition to leap about.”

http://art.pro.tok2.com/V/Vedder/vedd008.jpg

Originally published at Unicorn Tea Party. You can comment here or there.

As promised, here is Part 2.

The Incroyables and Merveilleuses are my favorites, gosh I tell ya. What they wore was once a political statement, but then they gave up on making statements, and that was a statement. Or some such.


stoorree

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Send some lovin' thanks to your friends with our holiday vgifts!

Photos of the week

We're so delighted with the immense talent of our growing, global lj_photophile community that we've decided to introduce a poll. Each week, we'll choose a half-dozen photos (based on user comments and staff feedback) and ask you to select a photo of the week. The winning photo will be announced in the next newsletter. If possible, please limit photo size to 350x350 to ensure that images display properly on friends pages. We want to thank you again (and again!) for sharing your passion.

Check out this week's photo poll and more fantastic user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks for joining us. To our American friends, have a fantastic Thanksgiving. To all of our international neighbors, we'll eat a little extra for you!

Oh my! I am sorry to have so abandoned the world of not-my-physical life- my day to day life has been more pressing than usual lately, and when I am free I find myself more interested in silly facebook updates or reading or sleeping than anything else.

December looks like more madness, but I think in January, what with the moving out of our teenager, furloughs and the return of sunlight, I'll have more time and space to write. Look out!

In the meanwhile, I am going back to WNY (in, like, thirty minutes the leaving process begins), and strangely feel more grounded about this than I have in any time in the past four years. I'm excited to meet Sandy and Michelle's new sons, excited to hear about my friend Dan's engagement, excited to meet my godson Miles and see my family and spend time with Jeremy and Jessamine, and see my mom and dad together for Thanksgiving for the first time since I was 21.

And so excited to travel with Mike, and just that he is part of my life now, too.

Also, happy happy happy birthday to Mary, whose birthday is today and who is fantastic and who I love.

The end.

Originally published at Unicorn Tea Party. You can comment here or there.

photo by Jairus

Jesse Dangerously, world's greatest babysitter, showing loolica's little girl Zabi who's boss. (p.s. She outsmarts him about bedtime and beats him at Uno.)

Barcelona is great. We spent three nights here, and in a couple hours I'll be leaving for London again. But I really enjoyed it here. They've got a crazy Bike system where you pay for a year subscription and you can just grab a bike from these racks on almost any street corner, and drop them off anywhere else that has a rack. The racks aren't very big, which seems to me like it might cause troubles during really busy times, but otherwise it's kind of an awesome system.

"And now, young girls also, they learn from it, and I really hope young men can learn from it. Even more than the girls, the men really need to learn from it. Because everyone's focusing on the women, but the problem isn't the women."

Full interview

Related article: What is being taught in rape-prevention programs?

I ain't wanted to say anything until it was announced in some official way, but here it is: myself and DJ Pandemonium will be DJing at Festival Kinetik 2010. I'm over the moon, seriously.