On a personal note, Mary Lee Pappas, also a good friend of mine, and I were comparing weekend disaster stories. She almost won with the dead fridge that was rendered incapacitated by cat hair.
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Wow. Things got out of control and I didn't get to post about the Cultural Convergence part of the last post.
Since seeing TSO Thursday, Dec. 17, I also went to see "Bug Bunny on Broadway" by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra on Friday. I went with fellow critics Tom Aldridge, classical music reviewer, and "What's Opera, Doc?"
After the ISO, that weekend I also hit the Indiana Repertory Theatre's "Old Wicked Songs" and Theatre on the Square's "Worzel Gummidge." (You don't want the link to that one, trust me.)
Then, I started my week off properly on Monday by going to a pre-screening of "Rent." Ah, sometimes, it is very good to be the press.
My long T-day weekend wasn't a vacation, as I hit the IRT's "A Christmas Carol" and Beef & Boards' "A Beef & Boards Christmas" (see Nov. 30 issue) Friday and Saturday.
Now, remember, gentle readers, that reviewing theater for me is an additional part-time gig. I also put in my 40 hours of copy editing and being the Calendar editor in the office. Now do you understand why I generally don't pick up my phone?
On a personal note, Mary Lee Pappas, also a good friend of mine, and I were comparing weekend disaster stories. She almost won with the dead fridge that was rendered incapacitated by cat hair, but I won with half of my guttering and eaves falling off the back of my house. Also on the credit card over the weekend: a $600 clutch and a new TV, because my old TV died a long and dark death.
Let's talk about sex, Legos and cultural convergence
The best part: Even though Jar-Jar is a character that helps you through the game, you can kill him, and he screams when you shoot him.
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It has been a full week, and promises to be a full weekend as well.
It all began Wednesday, when I finally saw the movie "Kinsey." I thought it was good, and didn't use the sexual aspect of Kinsey's work in an exploitive way -- too much. It asked a lot of good questions, which remained with me days later.
Also that night, I played a gaming system game for the first time. Normally, I find things like Xbox and Playstation to be vortexes of life-sucking, but the Lego Star Wars for Xbox was too cute. The best part: Even though Jar-Jar is a character that helps you through the game, you can kill him, and he screams when you shoot him.
And, today I can finally say something about the new Harry Potter movie. I saw it last weekend, but there was a gag rule on the press to keep reviews from appearing until opening day. It was OK -- but it wasn't great. I know they had to leave some things out, but there is no Percy, no house elves, no villa and the fact that Snape has a Dark Mark and the role of Naginni the snake are downplayed. If you haven't read the book, you are going to be confused at times. Plus, it's got a PG-13 rating for a reason, folks! Please don't take your little little ones. It's even darker than the third movie.
Finally, last night I saw the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at Conseco. I will be writing a full review about it for the Nov. 23 issue in Sound, but something I will not include in the review is the IMMENSE HOTNESS of the bass player Dave Z. I mean, we are taking LICK-A-LICIOUS. I could get really graphic and still not convey the hottness of this man. Wow. After just thinking about him, I need to go smoke.
WARNING: Do not surf the actual site. Just watch the Darth Vader movie. It was just pointed out to me that as cute as little Lego Dark Vader is, there is some, ahem, disturbing stuff on there as well.
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If the movie dosen't come on, click on "video clips."
WARNING: Do not surf the actual site. Just watch the Darth Vader movie. It was just pointed out to me that as cute as little Lego Dark Vader is, there is some, ahem, disturbing stuff on there as well.
These are the places to take your kids -- not adult programming.
So, I was recently at the theater, and there was a family there with 3 kids, ages about 1, 10 and 12. I have an inkling they could have been family of one of the performers, but I am not sure.
I think it is laudable that parents want to introduce their kids to the theater. In fact, I encourage it, and there are a lot of theaters whose missions state that they exist to introduce kids to theater. They include Lilly Theatre at the Children's Museum, Young Audiences and more.
These are the places to take your kids -- not adult programming. The reason being, the kids were bored, and TALKED the entire show. Instead of taking the kids into the lobby, the parents just let them do what they wanted. So they figited, and TALKED -- talked louder than the group of drunk women next to me (a rant for another day).
If you are going to shell out the money for 2 tickets to the theater -- and it's not a kiddy theater -- please budget the money for a sitter as well. Your kids will be happier and the people around you will thank you.
When I turned 30, I told myself I was going to quit smoking, and that I was going to learn how to knit (it's a spinster thing). By my 31st birthday, neither had happened.
When I turned 30, I told myself I was going to quit smoking, and that I was going to learn how to knit (it's a spinster thing). By my 31st birthday, neither had happened.
So when my friend Tina asked me if I wanted to take classes with her and her mother, Marti, at Michael's I said OK.
We were the only 3 in the class. After showing up late, since the lady on the phone told me the class was at 6:30, not 6, we got down to the serious business of making a scarf.
Justin, our instructor, has been knitting since his grandmother taught him how at the age of 7. He was exceptionally nice about Tina's and I's decided lack of talent, and shared our enthusiasm for creating knitted Harry Potter garb.
I don't know how well my scarf is going to turn out, or if I will even get a chance to work on it between now and the next class, but it was a neat expereince, and for $10 plus materials, it was a pleasant way to spend an evening.
For those of you who don't know, witches are real, and I am one.
For those of you who don't know, witches are real, and I am one.
I've been a practicing Witch for about 10 years, and before that, I was Pagan before I knew what Pagan was.
Hence, Oct. 31 was a very important holiday for my coven, and for me. We call our holiday Samhain. We follow a primarily Celtic tradition.
On Samhain (or in this case, the night before, as well all have jobs ...), we gather together to eat (and eat and eat) traditional foods of the season (meats, cheeses, last fruits of the harvest and nuts) and recognize those people in our lives who have passed on into what we call the Summerland.
Our celebration is very similar to the Hispanic holiday Day of the Dead. It does not glorify death or revel in death; but we see death as a natural progression of the life cycle. We honor our ancestors as well as friends who have passed on, and give thanks for the wonderful things in our lives -- such as health, friends and family.
The dark aspect of Halloween/Samhain is because this is the time of year that the Earth begins to go dormant. Pagans celebrate the life cycles, which are mirrored in the cycles of the Earth. Hence we celebrate new life at Beltaine and its counterpart, death, at Samhain. There is nothing morbid about the celebration, and Pagans REVERE life, so there is no "sacraficing" involved.
Samhain is the Celtic new year, so this is a time for us to make resolutions and look back on the old year, reflect on what was good and what was bad, give thanks, and look forward to a brand new year.
