"Honest words are like August thirds; they just both come maybe once in a year." ~david garza

This song played at the end of the Veronica Mars pilot, and it's one of the reasons I fell in love with the show in that first episode.

Thank goodness it's Friday. My Fridays at school are awful and long and incredibly trying, but once I get home, I'm thrilled. I only have random musings tonight. I'm too exhausted to put together any truly coherent thoughts.

I recently reread The Hunger Games trilogy. I could read it over and over and over again (and I can easily read the whole trilogy in less than a week). I'm in love. So of course I've been intently following rumors and news about the making of the films. I knew that whoever was cast as Katniss would become an instant star, just as Daniel Radcliffe and Kristen Stewart experienced (with Harry Potter and Twilight, respectively). My vote was for Chloe Grace Moretz. Go see Let Me In to see why (go see that movie just because it's brilliant, actually). They went with Jennifer Lawrence, who was recently nominated for an Oscar for her amazing performance in Winter's Bone. I love her, I think she's a fabulous actress, and I'm excited to see her as Katniss. I do wonder if she's not too old for the role, though. I know she's no old maid, but how old will she be when they're shooting the last film in the trilogy? She'll be 21 when they start shooting the first film, in which Katniss is sixteen. The other two most-rumored contenders for the role were Hailee Steinfeld (also with a new Oscar nom, for True Grit) and Abigail Breslin, both of whom are fourteen. Going with someone so much older was an interesting choice. It might be because it'll be easier to cast the main male roles by casting Katniss older. I do know Jennifer Lawrence will nail the acting, and I'm not at all disappointed with her being cast. I can't wait to see the movie, although of course I'm nervous about it, as I am about any book I love being turned into a film.


Here's a random piece of a conversation I had today with two of my female students:

J: Do you live alone?
Me: Yes.
C: Do you have a cat?
Me: Yes.
J: You're just like in the American movies!
C: I knew you have a cat because you always have white hairs on your clothes.
J: Do you ever get lonely living alone?

This is just a tiny snippet of a conversation with thirteen-year-old girls in my school. I'm not sure why, but I suppose that, based on American movies, my students think all white girls in their twenties live alone and own cats. It's weird for them to think of someone living alone, though. From what I've learned, they tend to live with a lot of people. Very few of them live with what we think of as the traditional family unit (mother, father, children); many of them live with grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins.

If you live near a Rita's, go on Sunday! Free ices for the first day of spring! I love Rita's.

I'm tired. That's all for now.

"I’d be myself if I knew who I’d become. You fly too high and get too close to the sun." ~bono & the edge

This is a Broadway post. I've seen two Broadway shows in the past few days, and I'm here to report back.

First was Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. I was really excited about this musical when I heard about it for the first time years ago. Bono and The Edge, two of my favorite musicians in the world, were writing the music. That made it pretty intriguing to me. I followed the show's creation with excitement, anxiety, and finally frustration as it descended into the trainwreck that it is now. The opening has been postponed numerous times, people have been seriously hurt, and it's turned into a joke, which I don't think is good for Broadway. It's a bad show and it's still getting tons of attention, which bothers me. The script doesn't make any sense. When I saw it, they stopped the show during the Act 1 finale. After awhile they announced that they couldn't complete the flying sequence in that scene so they were skipping it. At one point a prop went flying off the stage and landed in the lap of an audience member in the front row. An empty harness, which was supposed to be holding an actor, flew across the stage. Why are they still having these problems when the show has been playing for four months?? I think that's unacceptable. Now Julie Taymor has been fired and they're trying to rework the show, but I don't know if that's possible or even worthwhile. I refused to pay to see it (Nic got us comps so I went for free) and I can't believe how many people are paying a lot of money to see such a disaster. Maybe someone new can fix it. I don't know. It all just seems like such a waste to me. A huge waste of money, a waste of talent, a waste of time. Read Ben Brantley's New York Times review for a laugh. It's more entertaining than the actual show. Here are some highlights:

"Spider-Man is so grievously broken in every respect that it is beyond repair....

The sheer ineptitude of this show, inspired by the Spider-Man comic books, loses its shock value early. After 15 or 20 minutes, the central question you keep asking yourself is likely to change from How can $65 million look so cheap? to How long before I’m out of here?....

Spider-Man is not only the most expensive musical ever to hit Broadway; it may also rank among the worst....

There are lots of flat, cardboardish sets, which could easily be recycled for high school productions of Grease and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying....

Some wear grotesque masks that bring to mind hucksters on sidewalks handing out promotional material for fantasy-theme restaurants....

I get the impression that Arachne, as the ultimate all-controlling artist, is the only character who much interests Ms. Taymor, but that doesn’t mean that she makes sense....

Anyway, the whole thing disappoints me. Oh, I have to post this, though. It's funny. I love Kristen Wiig.


On a much brighter note, last night I saw a wonderful new Broadway play, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. It was written by Rajiv Joseph, a young playwright who's been getting a lot of attention lately (his play Gruesome Playground Injuries played off-Broadway this winter, and it was good, though not as good as Bengal Tiger). Robin Williams stars in it, and he gives a fabulous performance as the tiger. He's best known for comedy, but he handles drama really, really well. The play (obviously set in Baghdad) takes an interesting look at the relationship between Iraqis and Americans. It's a drama, but it does have comic moments. It makes you think. It haunts you. I'm so glad I got to see it. I was in the front row, which was awesome. I love seeing dramas from the front row.

"Wait, dear, a white horse is walking down my street here. Your words are creeping at my feet, I fear sunrise will come too soon and you'll disappear into the haze of this city and go south." ~augustana

I know I haven't posted for awhile, but I'm making up for it today. Sorry if you have a slow connection and it takes forever to all the images to load.

I've been so busy this past week that I don't even know where to start. I have two concerts and a Broadway show to write about (from Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). This post will be about the two concerts. I'll post about the Broadway show (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark) later this weekend in a separate post.

On Tuesday I went to see The Low Anthem at the Bowery Ballroom. I've seen them as an opening band before, but it was great to see them headline a show. They were absolutely wonderful. They all play a bunch of different instruments, including some that I would never expect to make music (like a saw or a pair of cell phones). I admire musicians who are that versatile. Here are some photos so you can see:





I filmed the last song, "Oh My God Charlie Darwin." I was in the front row so I didn't have the best angle, but it was such a gorgeous performance that I have to share it.

There's a nice review of the concert here.


The next concert was Augustana. I've seen them live a few times before, but it was really cool to see them at this incredibly tiny venue. There were tables, and we were at a table directly against the stage. I was a foot away from Dan (the lead singer). It was surreal. I filmed the whole show. Again, the angle made it difficult, and I was watching the concert rather than looking at the screen of my recorder, so video-wise it's not perfect. It is, however, great for audio. They only played a couple old songs, and I was thrilled that one of them was "All the Stars and Boulevards." The rest of the songs were from their new album coming out in April. I can't wait to hear it, because I loved the songs they played last night. My favorite was "Hurricane."
Here are my videos (you should really check them out and listen to these gorgeous songs, especially "Hurricane"):

"When we're together, gray skies clear up. And I cheer up to where I'm less depressed. And sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, I just can't take it when we're apart. We belong together, we belong together, yes we do, you'll be mine forever." ~randy newman

The song "We Belong Together" is a Randy Newman song from Toy Story 3 that will probably win the Oscar for Best Original Song tonight. The version I'm sharing with you is a great cover by Yo La Tengo. This comes courtesy of nyctaper.

I love Oscar night. It's just so much fun. I love movies, and this is the biggest night of the year for movies. I love seeing my favorites get recognized, I love the glamour, I love the upsets, I love the crazy speeches...it's all just wonderful. I'm really hoping for some big upsets this year. We'll see what happens. I'll share my final predictions and my own preferences with you toward the end of this post. First, though, I want to show you the Oscar dessert I made this year. I'm by no means an expert baker, but I like experimenting. These look a bit messy, but they taste really good:

There are ten different designs. Each Best Picture nominee fits with a design. Can you match them up? The most difficult part is probably figuring out what the different pictures are actually supposed to be (I'm not an expert artist or baker). Head to the comments section and post your guesses. The nominees are: Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, 127 Hours, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, and Winter's Bone.

Finally, my predictions:

Picture: The King's Speech
Actor: Colin Firth
Actress: Natalie Portman
(I would love to see Annette Bening take this, and she's the only person who has a chance to beat Portman, but I don't think it will happen.)
Supporting Actor: Christian Bale
(Geoffrey Rush might be able to sneak away with it, but I'm pulling for Bale.)
Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo
(Some people think Hailee Steinfeld can win, and I wish she would, but I just don't see it happening, despite Leo's bizarre campaigning and speeches. But if there is an upset in the acting categories tonight, it might be here, and I would be thrilled.)
Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
(All I can say is Fincher better win. If they give this to Tom Hooper, I will be so freakin' angry.)
Original Screenplay: David Seidler, The King's Speech
Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Foreign Language Film: In a Better World
Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Documentary: Inside Job
Cinematography: True Grit
(True Grit better win here.)
Editing: The Social Network
Art direction: The King's Speech
(Alice in Wonderland could walk away with it, but I don't think it will.)
Costumes: Alice in Wonderland
(They could give this to The King's Speech, but they usually go for more showiness.)
Makeup: The Wolfman
(Because 'Best Makeup' usually means 'Most Makeup.')
Music (Original Score): The King's Speech
(I really, really wish The Social Network would win this. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it won't.)
Music (Original Song): Randy Newman, "We Belong Together," Toy Story 3
(This is always a wonky category, so who knows. Country Strong could take it.)
Visual Effects: Inception
(Duh.)
Sound Editing: Inception
Sound Mixing: Inception
Documentary Short: Killing in the Name
Short animated: Day and Night
Short live: Na Wewe

"Tiny curtains open and we heard the tiny clap of little hands. A tiny man would tell a little joke and get a tiny laugh from all the folks. Sitting, drifting around in bubbles and thinking it was us that carried them. When we finally got it figured out that we had truly missed the boat." ~modest mouse


One of the craziest concert experiences ever? Being at the Jones Beach concert where lightning struck the stage as Modest Mouse was playing. Seriously. I was recording audio, so maybe I'll post it tomorrow. That night was absolutely crazy, but it was pretty amazing, too. R.E.M. played "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" when they had previously said they wouldn't play it live again. It was appropriate for the evening.

This week has flown by; I can't believe I have to go back to work so soon. The fact that I was sick made it less enjoyable than it could have been, but I still loved being able to just stay at home and relax.

I forgot to post the Jimmy Fallon video. Here's a link to the whole show. If you just want to watch Destroyer's performance, it's below. I loved them. I'm on the right-hand side, kind of in that back right corner. It was a fun taping to attend. Jeremy Irons was hilarious.


Yesterday I went to see the new Broadway play Good People, and I am so, so glad I did. I thought it was fantastic. It's written by David Lindsay-Abaire (the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of Rabbit Hole) and stars Frances McDormand and Tate Donovan, with Estelle Parsons, Becky Ann Baker, Patrick Carroll, and Renee Elise Goldsberry rounding out the ensemble. First of all, the play is incredibly sharp. Much like Rabbit Hole, it's hilarious and devastating at the same time. It addresses the issue of class without being overly simplistic. It doesn't preach or present any solutions, it just shows you the lives of these incredibly real characters. The actors give wonderful performances. Frances McDormand is always amazing, but in this play I thought she was especially convincing. I hope she gets a Tony nom (I predict she will). I love Tate Donovan and I was thrilled to see him onstage; he held his own opposite Ms. McDormand. It was also great to see Estelle Parsons onstage, and she was very funny. I love Becky Ann Baker because she's in one of my favorite shows, Freaks & Geeks (she's the mother). Her character in Good People (described as a "Southie with a mouthie") is the polar opposite of her Freaks & Geeks character, which was fun to watch. It's a very strong cast and a very good play. If you're able to see it before it closes, I highly recommend doing so.