On Sunday, we went to go see "The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!)" at the Quality Hill Playhouse. It's a parody of various musical stylings, featuring five mini musicals, each modeled off a different famous writer/team - such as Rodgers and nHammerstei or Andrew Lloyd Webber. It's a small cast - four actors and the pianist - and each plot features the four actors in the same role (Hero, Heroine, Villain, Mentor) and generally the same plot - the Heroine can't pay her rent.
But the parodies are spot on, and even when I didn't recognize the writer's name (for example, "Kander and Ebb") it was pretty clear by the time that particular segment finished.
And we kept laughing the whole time, laughing until my side hurt and smiling until my cheeks hurt. The singers were extremely talented, too, with great voices and a knack for using them in just the right way for that moment of the show. If that level of talent is normal for Quality Hill, I'd definitely come back.
The playhouse itself is a small venue - maybe a couple hundred seats, tops. We were in row G...the back row. The lobby is tiny and unimpressive, but the bathrooms are nice. The small stage area means you're not relying on a sound system either, and the singers and instrument(s) are plainly there in all their natural beauty.
The Musical of Musicals at Quality Hill is playing until May 11, and I'd encourage that anyone who's been to a few musicals and enjoyed them go see it.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
A Generation of Rhetoric
We have ants. Crazy ants. I'm trying to be a good little eco-hippie, though, and NOT respond by spraying toxins all over my house and property.
So we've cleaned up the food in the kitchen that they're attracted to, wiped down the counters with a vinegar and hot water solution, and traced them back to the gap in the window sill they're using to seal it up. It worked... for awhile.
But last night, we left our dirty plates sitting on the counter overnight. And this morning, the bottom plate was BLACK with ants - a thick stream of them marching from the window sill, across the wall, down the cabinet, across the counter, and to the plate. So I was late to work cleaning all that up, getting rid of the ants, and sealing yet another gap.
A really good person (better than I, perhaps) would see this as an opportunity. The ants are helping us find all the gaps in the wall where cold and hot air will enter, and they're also encouraging us to keep the kitchen clean. Sparkling clean, in fact.
But...uggggh!! They're creepy and crawly and gross! And Eric was at the point this morning, though he's been supportive of eco-hippiness before, of suggesting ant killer.
I reminded him that we'd decided they were okay outside, under the deck where they live. It's only coming in that's a problem. He retorts: "Maybe they're not fine under the deck. We must fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here!"
At that point I declared victory since using Bush rhetoric clearly nullified any reasoned argumentation.
Later, though, I bit my own critique. Eric argued that our current counter-ant strategy was no longer succeeding. I countered: "It is working. Our strategy is working, and we will continue stay the course. We are winning against Al-Antae in OurDeq!"
Yeah, I lost that round.
So we've cleaned up the food in the kitchen that they're attracted to, wiped down the counters with a vinegar and hot water solution, and traced them back to the gap in the window sill they're using to seal it up. It worked... for awhile.
But last night, we left our dirty plates sitting on the counter overnight. And this morning, the bottom plate was BLACK with ants - a thick stream of them marching from the window sill, across the wall, down the cabinet, across the counter, and to the plate. So I was late to work cleaning all that up, getting rid of the ants, and sealing yet another gap.
A really good person (better than I, perhaps) would see this as an opportunity. The ants are helping us find all the gaps in the wall where cold and hot air will enter, and they're also encouraging us to keep the kitchen clean. Sparkling clean, in fact.
But...uggggh!! They're creepy and crawly and gross! And Eric was at the point this morning, though he's been supportive of eco-hippiness before, of suggesting ant killer.
I reminded him that we'd decided they were okay outside, under the deck where they live. It's only coming in that's a problem. He retorts: "Maybe they're not fine under the deck. We must fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here!"
At that point I declared victory since using Bush rhetoric clearly nullified any reasoned argumentation.
Later, though, I bit my own critique. Eric argued that our current counter-ant strategy was no longer succeeding. I countered: "It is working. Our strategy is working, and we will continue stay the course. We are winning against Al-Antae in OurDeq!"
Yeah, I lost that round.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Taj Mahal
Decided to eat from the "KCUR MemberCard" list last night, so we headed out to Waldo to indulge in some Indian food from a little place called Taj Mahal.
For atmosphere, I like Korma Sutra better - mostly for the owner there, whose enthusiasm is infectious. And also, Korma Sutra's OP location is closer to us.
But the food was really very, very good. If I found myself in the Waldo area and was hungry, I'd definitely look them up. Both Eric and I were in mild gastrointestinal distress last night, but I'd attribute it more to overeating than any flaw in the food...we took home no leftovers, you see.
So that's that. Good stuff.
For atmosphere, I like Korma Sutra better - mostly for the owner there, whose enthusiasm is infectious. And also, Korma Sutra's OP location is closer to us.
But the food was really very, very good. If I found myself in the Waldo area and was hungry, I'd definitely look them up. Both Eric and I were in mild gastrointestinal distress last night, but I'd attribute it more to overeating than any flaw in the food...we took home no leftovers, you see.
So that's that. Good stuff.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Stardust
Well, I probably won't actually get to that backlog promised in the last last post, except perhaps by special request (ie, you writing in the comments that you want to know about something). So to satisfy my throngs of eager readers [*snicker*], here's my latest review:
I read "Stardust" over the weekend, then watched the movie. Now, I will say that I read the book in Spanish, so it's possible that I missed something in the translation... that it might have actually been funnier or maybe deeper... but frankly I don't think so.
I found the book to be disappointing and the movie to be better, but still confusing. The book was, for the most part, written like a children's book, almost a deliberate imitation of The Hobbit (which I hated). Characters go along, do things, run into almost no difficulties, and when they do, they extract themselves with teeth-grinding simplicity. 80 pages in, nothing had really happened. At 100 pages, the "mission" of the book is accomplished, and all that's left is getting home. The problem with seeing it as a sweet children's book would be the explicit language (more an issue in English than it was in Spanish), one fairly graphic sex scene, and a couple scenes of rather descriptive violence perpetuated against a unicorn. These scenes were all the more discomfiting because they're so unexpected in this sort of book. It's like you're watching..."Aladdin" say, and Jasmine suddenly takes her top off while Aladdin yells "Holy fuck! Check out those knockers!" ...and then you're right back to the regular movie.
It lacked depth, it lacked character development, it lacked conflict. There are two other groups of people chasing the star, but it never really all comes together in the grand finale the way you'd expect; the other plot lines just peter out before the end.
The movie was better...in that it wasn't a total waste of my time. We get the grand finale, which is really quite good, and there are some scenes of visual humor that were really entertaining - though they had little to do with the book, that was a good thing in this case. My only beef with the movie is that some of the funny bits were WAY out there - ie, the smart-alecky ghosts and the gay pirate - that I found myself wondering whether the movie was deliberately a spoof/parody or whether it had just ended up that way. There were parts that took themselves seriously, and parts that I said to Eric, "Okay, this HAS to be a parody of a fantasy movie." Anyway, it was a cute bit of fluff, but I'd still recommend going to see "The Golden Compass" for those wanting a bit of high fantasy to go with their evening.
I have a collection of Gaiman's short stories coming in from the library soon, so I'm pretty excited about that.
I read "Stardust" over the weekend, then watched the movie. Now, I will say that I read the book in Spanish, so it's possible that I missed something in the translation... that it might have actually been funnier or maybe deeper... but frankly I don't think so.
I found the book to be disappointing and the movie to be better, but still confusing. The book was, for the most part, written like a children's book, almost a deliberate imitation of The Hobbit (which I hated). Characters go along, do things, run into almost no difficulties, and when they do, they extract themselves with teeth-grinding simplicity. 80 pages in, nothing had really happened. At 100 pages, the "mission" of the book is accomplished, and all that's left is getting home. The problem with seeing it as a sweet children's book would be the explicit language (more an issue in English than it was in Spanish), one fairly graphic sex scene, and a couple scenes of rather descriptive violence perpetuated against a unicorn. These scenes were all the more discomfiting because they're so unexpected in this sort of book. It's like you're watching..."Aladdin" say, and Jasmine suddenly takes her top off while Aladdin yells "Holy fuck! Check out those knockers!" ...and then you're right back to the regular movie.
It lacked depth, it lacked character development, it lacked conflict. There are two other groups of people chasing the star, but it never really all comes together in the grand finale the way you'd expect; the other plot lines just peter out before the end.
The movie was better...in that it wasn't a total waste of my time. We get the grand finale, which is really quite good, and there are some scenes of visual humor that were really entertaining - though they had little to do with the book, that was a good thing in this case. My only beef with the movie is that some of the funny bits were WAY out there - ie, the smart-alecky ghosts and the gay pirate - that I found myself wondering whether the movie was deliberately a spoof/parody or whether it had just ended up that way. There were parts that took themselves seriously, and parts that I said to Eric, "Okay, this HAS to be a parody of a fantasy movie." Anyway, it was a cute bit of fluff, but I'd still recommend going to see "The Golden Compass" for those wanting a bit of high fantasy to go with their evening.
I have a collection of Gaiman's short stories coming in from the library soon, so I'm pretty excited about that.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Book Larning
When I attended the kick off of The Big Read project last year, one of the questions on their readers' survey was: "How many books did you read last year?" It's a simple enough question, and one that all too many Americans, statistically speaking, would have a difficult time answering greater than zero.
I should have started it earlier, but in the middle of February of this year, I started keeping a list of the books I was reading. Here's my list so far - though I swear I think I've forgotten a couple...
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke [incomplete]
The Mighty and the Almighty by Madeleine Albright
Empire by Orson Scott Card
Magic: The Final Fantasy Collection by Isaac Asimov
Tales of the Black Widowers by Isaac Asimov
Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare by Isaac Asimov [incomplete]
"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare (with Asimov guide)
"As You Like It" by William Shakespeare (with Asimov guide)
"Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare (with Asimov guide)
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman
The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman
Memo to the President Elect by Madeleine Albright
An Isaac Asimov Second Omnibus by Isaac Asimov (including "Pebble in the Sky", "The Stars, Like Dust", and "The Currents of Space")
The Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher
Time's Eye by Arthur C. Clarke
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Simple Prosperity by David Wann [in progress]
So here's where it gets difficult to count, difficult to answer the simple question, "How many books have I read?" For example, do I count Jonathan Strange... since I didn't finish it? (Probably not - I wasn't even halfway through when I put it down) Or Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare - it's a reference book. I've read in the book, but certainly didn't read it cover to cover. Also, does each Shakespearean play count as a separate "book" for counting purposes? Similarly, in the Asimov Omnibus - that included three separately published novels, each in the 150-250 page range. Was that three books? Or was it once since it was published into one binding?
I guess my best answer to this question is: 13 - 20 in two months.
I should have started it earlier, but in the middle of February of this year, I started keeping a list of the books I was reading. Here's my list so far - though I swear I think I've forgotten a couple...
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke [incomplete]
The Mighty and the Almighty by Madeleine Albright
Empire by Orson Scott Card
Magic: The Final Fantasy Collection by Isaac Asimov
Tales of the Black Widowers by Isaac Asimov
Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare by Isaac Asimov [incomplete]
"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare (with Asimov guide)
"As You Like It" by William Shakespeare (with Asimov guide)
"Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare (with Asimov guide)
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman
The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman
Memo to the President Elect by Madeleine Albright
An Isaac Asimov Second Omnibus by Isaac Asimov (including "Pebble in the Sky", "The Stars, Like Dust", and "The Currents of Space")
The Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher
Time's Eye by Arthur C. Clarke
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Simple Prosperity by David Wann [in progress]
So here's where it gets difficult to count, difficult to answer the simple question, "How many books have I read?" For example, do I count Jonathan Strange... since I didn't finish it? (Probably not - I wasn't even halfway through when I put it down) Or Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare - it's a reference book. I've read in the book, but certainly didn't read it cover to cover. Also, does each Shakespearean play count as a separate "book" for counting purposes? Similarly, in the Asimov Omnibus - that included three separately published novels, each in the 150-250 page range. Was that three books? Or was it once since it was published into one binding?
I guess my best answer to this question is: 13 - 20 in two months.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Basketball and a Preview
Before I get back to my regularly scheduled reviews, I have some thoughts on basketball. First a preview of upcoming reviews:
* Jimmy Eat World's new CD, Chase this Light
* The new KC Live! restaurant "Tengo Sed Cantina"
* Mexican restaurant, Fronteras in JoCo
* The Codex Alera book series
* New DVD release, Death at a Funeral
- so stay tuned!
And on to basketball.
Obviously there's been a lot of talk lately about KU, UNC, and Roy. I admit, I still harbor some bitterness. Don't get me wrong - Self is a great coach, maybe even a better coach for KU. If I could swap back, even before last night's game, no way. So why bitter? Here's my extended analogy to explain the bitterness:
Okay, so here I am, Kansas. And I'm dating this guy, and we're pretty serious. Sure, there'd been a couple rough spots, but that was all in the past, and we're together. Not quite engaged, but people know it's coming. Engaged to be engaged or whatever that is. And even though people keep asking, "Hey, when are you gonna get married?" and heaven knows we've talked about it enough, it just never seems to happen.
So then suddenly, this guy's ex-girlfriend calls him up, asks if they can go out to dinner, just catch up whatever. Before I know what's happened, he friggin' dumps me and goes back to his ex! And then, get this, they get married. That's his championship - he goes to back to his ex and they get married.
Back to me, Kansas. So I get a new boyfriend, and he's awesome. Probably better for me right now than the old guy. But I'm still pissed off at him for breaking my heart. Finding a fabulous new guy eases part of the bitterness. Meeting up with him at the high school reunion and showing off helped, too. That's when we beat them. Getting married myself will ease the rest of it.
So that's what I'm waiting for - our wedding, our championship. Beating them was step one - winning it all will end this silliness completely.
I told you it was one hell of an extended analogy.
And seriously, my priorities are way out of whack today. If I found a genie today, this is about how it'd go:
"You may have one wish."
"Oh! KU wins the national championship tonight!"
"So shall it be don-"
"Wait! World peace! I meant world peace! Shit! And end to hunger - oh, come on, no do-overs??"
Yep.
* Jimmy Eat World's new CD, Chase this Light
* The new KC Live! restaurant "Tengo Sed Cantina"
* Mexican restaurant, Fronteras in JoCo
* The Codex Alera book series
* New DVD release, Death at a Funeral
- so stay tuned!
And on to basketball.
Obviously there's been a lot of talk lately about KU, UNC, and Roy. I admit, I still harbor some bitterness. Don't get me wrong - Self is a great coach, maybe even a better coach for KU. If I could swap back, even before last night's game, no way. So why bitter? Here's my extended analogy to explain the bitterness:
Okay, so here I am, Kansas. And I'm dating this guy, and we're pretty serious. Sure, there'd been a couple rough spots, but that was all in the past, and we're together. Not quite engaged, but people know it's coming. Engaged to be engaged or whatever that is. And even though people keep asking, "Hey, when are you gonna get married?" and heaven knows we've talked about it enough, it just never seems to happen.
So then suddenly, this guy's ex-girlfriend calls him up, asks if they can go out to dinner, just catch up whatever. Before I know what's happened, he friggin' dumps me and goes back to his ex! And then, get this, they get married. That's his championship - he goes to back to his ex and they get married.
Back to me, Kansas. So I get a new boyfriend, and he's awesome. Probably better for me right now than the old guy. But I'm still pissed off at him for breaking my heart. Finding a fabulous new guy eases part of the bitterness. Meeting up with him at the high school reunion and showing off helped, too. That's when we beat them. Getting married myself will ease the rest of it.
So that's what I'm waiting for - our wedding, our championship. Beating them was step one - winning it all will end this silliness completely.
I told you it was one hell of an extended analogy.
And seriously, my priorities are way out of whack today. If I found a genie today, this is about how it'd go:
"You may have one wish."
"Oh! KU wins the national championship tonight!"
"So shall it be don-"
"Wait! World peace! I meant world peace! Shit! And end to hunger - oh, come on, no do-overs??"
Yep.
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