Archive | May, 2007

So Long, Farewell, Good Riddance

20 May

Welcome to one of my favorite weeks of the year, the one right after all the big graduations, when the seniors have their diplomas, all the students have moved out of their dorms and apartments, and things along the C and especially the B line are much quieter than they are the rest of the year. It’s the best time to do things like go to T. Anthony’s because you won’t have to deal with any of the B.U. kids causing long lines and tying up all the tables. Or go to Shaw’s because it’s less crowded. Or just, you know, ride the B line in peace without having to squeeze in. The drivers will even go express from Kenmore to Packard’s Corner, which is awesome. Or drive up Comm Ave and see if you can go the whole way without stopping at a light or because of traffic, like I did over Christmas week. Of course, it’s all short lived, because in just over a week, after Memorial Day, we’ll have to deal with all the out of towners here for internships and summer school, who don’t know the B line from the C or the D, who tie up the self-serve lines at Shaw’s because they don’t know what they’re doing, and who just generally get in the way. But for now, it’s a great time to live in the Brookline/Brighton/Allston area.

This Is Butter, Not Soap!

19 May

It’s hard to believe the TV season is already coming to a close. I feel like it was just beginning and now all the networks have already announced their new shows for fall. Actually, one of the best laughs I got this week came from CBS’ announcement of one of their new shows. It’s called Kid Nation and here’s the gist: 40 kids, ages 8–15, are left alone to live in an abandoned New Mexico town with no adult supervision for 40 days. It’s like Lord of the Flies crossed with The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. The kids have to govern themselves, work, cook, clean … all by themselves. Sounds like a total mess, right? So check out the clip below (or watch it here) and try not to laugh too hard. At the nerdy white kid who quotes Martin Luther King, Jr., or the princess girl who says she doesn’t work, or how earnest some of the kids are, or how so many of the kids seem to cry at the drop of a hat. The best laugh of all is when one kid screams out, “This is butter, not soap!” Kid Nation airs this fall on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. You know I’ll be watching.

My Two Cents

14 May

It’s not that my mom isn’t worth it, but I just wanted to quickly thank the U.S. Postal Service for waiting until after Mother’s Day to put their new rates into effect.

It’s surprising, given how much mail was sent this past week, but it’s much appreciated.

Now it’s off to go buy some two-centers.

Movie as Mac-n-Cheese

13 May

Just like with pies, there are different kinds of movies. Some are huge but empty blockbusters. Others are small, personal statements. Still others try to push buttons. And then there are movies like Waitress that don’t appear to have any greater ambition than to be a glimpse at the life of someone different from us. They don’t blow you away, but they do go down easy. It’s like comfort food. Keri Russell (the fickle pickle herself) stars here as Jenna, a waitress in a southern pie shop diner, who learns she is pregnant with her louse of a husband’s baby, and finds herself falling for her obstetrician. One of Jenna’s few escapes is pie-making, and she spends much of her time creating different pie combinations that reflect her state of mind (for example, “Pregnant Miserable Self-Pitying Loser Pie” or “Falling in Love Chocolate Mousse Pie.” Mmmmmm). Add in two fellow waitress friends (Cheryl Hines and writer/director Adrienne Shelly) and a quirky old guy (Andy Griffith), and you basically have the entire movie. As I said, Waitress is nothing earth shattering, but it is a good, enjoyable slice of life. Russell gives an endearing performance (totally different from how she was in Mission Impossible III) that makes you fall in love with her easily. This is a movie that makes you smile, even if it doesn’t make you think, and on a slightly chilly Sunday afternoon, you couldn’t ask for much more. I give Waitress a solid B.

Staying Put, For Now

10 May

I’m not yet ready to change my position on Dice-K, but I wanted to acknowledge that he did a real nice job Wednesday night. It’s the kind of outing he should have been having all season. I haven’t been a fan of this guy for a while (my earliest post about him dates back to April 17), and it’d be really lame if I liked him now, just because he had one good start. But I’m capable of change, or admitting I’m wrong, so I had to be fair here since he did well Wednesday. Besides, if I keep up this vote of no confidence thing, maybe I’ll upset him. That’d be so cool.

Making Ballplayers Cry

9 May

You know, I thought my blog was powerful.

But it seems my buddy Todd’s blog has actually upset Dontrelle Willis, a pitcher on the Florida Marlins.

Really.

In an article in the Press-Enterprise, a paper out in Los Angeles, Todd’s blog is actually mentioned by name. (And the story was picked up by the Scripps-McClatchy Western Service and also ran in the Knoxville News Sentinel.)

I’m totally impressed by this so I thought I’d post a link.

Love Is … a Good Book

9 May

I don’t read books. People ask me all the time, “What’s the last book you read?” And my response is always “I don’t read books.” It’s not that I don’t read. In fact, I devour magazines on a weekly basis — Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Improper Bostonian, etc. But I’ve never had much patience for or time to devote to books. Of course, this hasn’t stopped me from accumulating quite a library of books that I hope one day to read. So every time I go on vacation, I bring one with me, but I never get that far (it’s happened recently with Franz Wisner’s Honeymoon with My Brother and Steve Almond and Julianna Baggott’s Which Brings Me to You). I think the last book I read from start to finish was Dave Egger’s A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and that was, like, six years ago.

So why am I mentioning all this now? Well, I don’t want to jinx it or anything, but I may just be on the verge of finishing another book: Rob Sheffield’s Love Is a Mix Tape. Rob is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone (he writes the “Pop Life” column) and he’s been a commentator on MTV and VH1. The book is Rob’s memoir about he and his late wife, Renee, who had nothing in common but a love of music, and Rob tells the story by using the various mixes he made for her (or she for him) as a uniting theme. As he writes, “Every mix tape tells a story. Put them together and they add up to the story of a life.” I’m sure years from now I’ll be able to remember certain times of my own life based on mixes I’ve made (and not just Xmas ones). That’s the idea behind the book, and given that it takes place in the early 90s, the lists of artists on the tapes gives the book a definite sense of time and place. There’s even a chapter devoted to the weekend Kurt Cobain died.

Basically, Mix Tape is a love letter to Renee and to music, and whether you’re a romantic, a music lover, or just like good memoirs, the book is great. It’s written in a conversational tone, making it fast-moving and, at times, hard to put down. At the end of each chapter, I found myself eager to read just one more. Usually I struggle to finish chapters and can’t wait to put down the books. I found out about Mix Tape when it was excerpted in GQ in the January 07 issue. I don’t usually get affected by books or magazine articles (other than those that make me laugh), but I found myself tearing up a bit reading the excerpt.

It’s been less than a week since I picked up Mix Tape, and I’m more than halfway through. I’d be surprised if I wasn’t done with it in another week or two (not being on vacation anymore and all). I wish I could write a more convincing recommendation than this is. But suffice it to say, any book that gets me from start to finish has to be good. If you go to the book’s web site you can read an excerpt and decide for yourself if it’s worth picking up.

Update, 6/8: I’ve finished the book.

They Should Be Faster

9 May

Just a quick question: Why aren’t Boston cabs equipped with Fast Lane transponders?

I know the drivers are trying to make money, and a longer ride equals a higher tab, but considering how often they go through the toll booths, and considering the passenger isn’t paying the toll (at least not directly), wouldn’t it make sense for the cabs to have a Fast Lane transponder so they can zip right through and don’t have to sit in traffic?

A Prince. But Not Quite a King

8 May

On my list of all-time favorite movies, The Lion King ranks up there somewhere around number 5 (right after Rushmore, Singin’ in the Rain, North by Northwest, Good Will Hunting, and sometimes What’s Eating Gilbert Grape). So it’s always puzzled me why I never got around to seeing the theatrical adaptation of The Lion King, even though it’s been on Broadway for 10 years. Well, seeing the show is no longer on my to-do list because I saw it Tuesday night at the Broward Center in South Florida.

Unfortunately, Lion King will not be on my top-5 list of musicals (like, say, Company). I liked the show overall, thought it was a very creative adaptation of the movie, but I found some of it corny like a show at Disney World, didn’t like a lot of the individual performances, found the transition between some scenes choppy because they were trying to replicate every scene of the film, and thought the way the story was padded (especially in the second act) just slowed the whole thing down. In fact, the first act is much better than the second, but maybe that’s because that’s when all the good stuff in the movie is. On the other hand, the “He Lives in You” reprise is a really nice addition. I also loved how colorful some scenes were (though not “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King”). But I think the movie is really ingrained in my head, because scenes that always get me when I watch the movie totally got me here too. It’s almost a Pavlovian reaction that I get chills when I see “Circle of Life,” for example, and here, with the animals coming from everywhere in the theater, it had a similar effect on me. The wildebeast stampede scene, too, was an emotional experience seeing it in the theater. It’s hard to watch those scenes play out on stage without thinking of how they look in the movie. I have to say, though, that if there was something I really sorta didn’t like, it’s how Timon and Pumba were portrayed. It’s totally pandering in an attempt to mimic Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella’s performances. I also thought “Hakuna Matata” didn’t end the first act effectively.

So am I happy I finally saw the show? Of course. But when I think of The Lion King, I’ll think more fondly of the movie. To me, that’s a perfect animated movie, and it just can’t be replicated in live action.

Gone to the Dark Side

7 May

I guess I’ll cut right to the chase: Spider-Man 3 is the worst film in the series.

There’s just too much going on.

There’s too much hokey dialogue and stiff acting (even for a comic book movie).

There are too many attempts at easy laughs.

It’s too long.

And the finale just doesn’t have the same power as those in the other two films did.

But that’s not all. Continue reading →

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