Archive | May, 2009

No Boundaries for Kris Allen Now

20 May

I predicted it yesterday and I said it as far back as the semifinals in February, and now it’s come true: Kris Allen is the new American Idol! Woo hoo! What an upset! What a great surprise! This is awesome. Kris has been a consistently good singer all season — maybe not the best ever, but he’s got a great sound that I like — and I’m very happy he won. Hell, even that lame winner’s song, “No Boundaries,” sounded good tonight. Wow … this is really cool. Maybe now Adam Lambert will go back to obscurity, taking that screechy/yelling voice and his memories of being totally overrated with him, and we can all get on with our lives again … till next season, at least.

I Predict an Upset

19 May

All season long, people have been genuflecting to Adam Lambert like he’s the second coming or something. Most talented American Idol contestant ever? Puh-leeze. Have they totally forgotten about Carrie Underwood? Adam can’t hold a candle to her — or to Kelly Clarkson. Hell, I haven’t seen an Idol contestant this overrated since, well, ever. So now that the season finale is finally here, and Adam is going mano a mano with Kris Allen, I think it’s time to put an end to all that hoo-hah.

You may recall that back in February, after only two weeks of semifinals, I predicted that Kris would win it all. Today, I’m standing by that prediction. Just wait for it. Tomorrow night, after all the random and unnecessary musical numbers are over and Ryan Seacrest finally gets around to announcing the winner, there will be an upset, and naive little girls will be crying all over the country (again). Tonight, all the people who voted for Danny Gokey are going to shift to Kris, and all the people like me, who agree that Adam sucks and have had it with his overly dramatic, screeching/yelling singing style, will finally pick up their phones to vote against him. I’ll be voting for the first time all season, as much to support Kris as to prevent Adam from winning.

Really, I don’t care that much — it’s been a pretty lame season of Idol overall. Heck, it’s like season six all over again. And I mean, Kris isn’t really someone I’d support in a better season. But IMHO, he’s the best one they’ve had on this year and he’s had my support almost from the beginning. And, alright fine, I’d just love to see Adam lose. So who’s with me? Vote for Kris!

Party Girl

18 May

Dear Uncle Martin,

I know you can’t understand anything I say, so I thought I would write you a letter.

Thank you so much for coming down to New York this weekend for my first birthday party. I know it was really crazy with all those kids (and their parents, and our family, and my mommy and daddy’s friends) in my house, but I had a great time and I hope you did too. The cake (from Costco) was yummy, but I think my favorite part of the party was singing and dancing and shaking the bells along with Zev, and his songs about bath time and farm animals. Then again, as much as I liked the music and having all my friends here, I enjoyed all the “bah bah bahs” (i.e.: balloons) most of all.

The food was so good, wasn’t it? I loved the kids-only macaroni and cheese — it’s my favorite. Thank you so much for going with my daddy to Stew Leonard’s at 7:45 a.m. to pick it up. Daddy said he bought you some cider donuts there. Did you really need them? Uncle Martin, I think you need to watch what you eat. Please tell me you didn’t eat more of them on your drive back to Boston. Continue reading →

Springtime for Martin

15 May

Generally, I have a bias against seeing Broadway shows not on Broadway. They just never quite feel real to me, especially if I’ve seen the original cast and I’ve listened to the soundtrack more times than I can remember. So I was nervous about how much I’d enjoy Spring Awakening when I went to see it Thursday night at the Colonial Theater here in Boston. After all, when I saw the show in New York a year and a half ago, I was blown away by how much I liked it, and I’ve just about worn out my copy of the original cast recording.

Well, the good news is that this touring production is, in fact, quite good. The voices of this cast are not as strong as those of the original cast (which included, among other folks, the beautiful Lea Michele, soon to be seen in the FOX TV show, Glee), but the actors certainly give impressive performances — especially the lead trio of Blake Bashoff, Kyle Riabko, and Christy Altomare, who play Moritz, Melchior, and Wendla, respectively. And all the same choreography and music that I enjoyed in New York has arrived intact. Highlights include “The Dark I Know Well,” “Don’t Do Sadness,” “The Mirror-Blue Night,” and of course, “Totally Fucked,” the high point of this production — in enthusiasm, anyway.

If you don’t know Spring Awakening, it’s a musicalized version of the controversial 1891 play by Frank Wedekind about sexual repression and rebellion in Germany. This adaptation, with contemporary music by Duncan Sheik, includes heavy themes of rape, abuse, homosexuality, suicide, and abortion, and it’s definitely not your parents’ type of show. Based on the half-empty theater tonight, it’s safe to assume plenty of tickets are still available for the Boston leg of the tour (here through May 24). Good ones too — we bought mezzanine tickets but were moved down to the orchestra, row J. It’s not the original cast on Broadway, but I still recommend seeing this production.

He’s Given It All He’s Got, Captain

11 May

Like Casino Royale did to James Bond, the new Star Trek movie reboots the franchise, doing away with the history that so many fans have grown up knowing and living by, and making the story accessible to folks like me who aren’t even fans of the genre to begin with.

My Star Trek knowledge is limited, but I know I should be embarrassed to admit that the only film of the first 10 that I saw was number four, The Voyage Home (aka: the one with the whales).

I love the classic SNL skit where William Shatner tells the fans to get a life.

Point is, the fact that I really liked this film only goes to show what a great job director J.J. Abrams has done. Continue reading →

One More Thing Off My List

9 May

Today was one of those days where I was playing tourist in my own city. Nina and I met up for lunch (at Vlora in Copley Square) and then just decided to walk. Our first destination? The Swan Boats in the Public Gardens. I’d made this loop before, but Nina had not, and I was happy to indulge her in this activity. The quiet, peaceful loop around the Gardens was actually kinda nice, and the sun peaking through the clouds made it even better.

We continued on through the Common and Nina asked if I had ever had the Boston Cream Pie at the Omni Parker House. I had not, and neither had she. So we decided we couldn’t really be proper Bostonians until we could say we had tried the pie, and we headed over to the hotel. I wish I could say I was impressed and that the pie lived up the the hype. It did not. The round, individual-sized cake was just not very moist and it didn’t have nearly enough cream in it. Yes, there were also crushed nuts all along the outside of the cake, and I don’t like nuts, but I got over that. So, a disappointment. On the other hand, the Parker House rolls, which I had also never had there before, were yummy, and they made the experience worth it.

We finished off our snack and continued on to a primo touristy destination, Faneuil Hall, where we walked around, saw some street performers, and even did a little shopping. But that was enough, so after that we called it a day.

Now I have another activity I can cross off my to-do list. After more than 12 years of living in Boston (16 if you include college), I can say I’ve had the trademark foods at the Omni Parker House.

And the Hits Just Keep on Coming

9 May

I’m always excited whenever something I’ve posted here touches a chord and gets picked up and linked to elsewhere.

But man oh man, the response to my post yesterday about eating at Old Country Buffet has been unbelievable! In just one day, that one post has recorded more than 1,200 hits.

That’s more than the number of hits my posts about Johnny Cupcakes and I Am Legend have received. (Until now, those two had been the most-read posts on this site.) Who knew so many people were equally curious about this place?

Thanks for the increased traffic goes to longtime supporters Boston.com and UniversalHub.com, in addition to Wicked Local’s Watertown blog, all of whom have directed people my way.

And of course, thanks to all the people who have clicked and read and laughed at and commented on my post. Nothing I’ve posted here has ever had this much response.

I’m amazed, amused, impressed … and hoping you all will come back again to read what else I post here.

Update, 5/11/09, 12:00 p.m.: Well, the Boston.com link was live until noon today and people were clicking on it the entire time. Between Friday at 1 p.m. and today, that one post had just under 2,400 hits. Good stuff.

Curiosity Killed My Appetite

8 May

There are certain things you should do at least once in your life.

For example, I’ve seen the Grateful Dead live in concert, I’ve taken a trapeze lesson, I’ve hiked Tuckerman Ravine, and I’ve gone skydiving.

I’m not sure that eating at Old Country Buffet (in the Watertown Mall) is in the same league as those, but now that I’ve done it, I can safely say that I will not be doing it again. Continue reading →

Happy Birthday, Abby!

4 May

Today is Abby’s birthday, and I’ve learned in the past week that my niece and I don’t share something very important in common: a love of cake.

On multiple occasions, Abby has not shown much interest in eating it.

How sad!

But no matter. Abby has enough sweetness in her as it is. And I’m sure that today, on the first anniversary of the day Abby was born, she’ll find plenty of other ways to celebrate. Continue reading →

Man vs Wild

3 May

Part of the fun of superhero origin stories is watching how an ordinary person is changed when they’re given a super power. Think Peter Parker after he’s bitten by the radioactive spider. Or Bruce Banner, after he’s exposed to all those gamma rays. So it’s sort of a bummer when, early on in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, we see that Wolverine has had claws all his life (though they’re bone, not adamantium ones), not to mention an ability to heal quickly and not age (how else to explain his ability to fight in the Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the Vietnam War). Then again, Wolverine is a mutant, and he was born a mutant. Thus, this movie is not so much an origin story as it is the story of how Wolverine became a super mutant. Hmmmm … Perhaps the film should have been called X-Men Beginnings instead of X-Men Origins — or perhaps I shouldn’t take it quite so literally.

Title aside, Wolverine is pretty good, not great — it’s more X-Men: The Last Stand than the other two films in that series (i.e., it’s more an action film than anything of any higher meaning). Hugh Jackman, back again in the role that made him a star, still emits cool and the film does include some decent action scenes. On the other hand, the script isn’t really top-notch, and sometimes it veers into forced, lame comedy (like in the scene just after Wolverine’s injection where he has a mishap in he bathroom thanks to his new blades). It’s good to see that director Gavin Hood (who directed the truly awful Rendition) isn’t a total hack, but I wish he had allowed the actors to have a little more fun (for example, it’s nice to see Liev Schreiber playing a bad guy, but he doesn’t look like he’s enjoying himself very much).

Wolverine is definitely not essential viewing — especially if you saw X2: X-Men United, which also included Wolverine’s origin story. But it’s not the kind of movie you’ll regret paying eight or nine bucks for, either. It’s only May. Better films are still to come. For now, this one only gets a B– from me.

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